Sweet Child Of Mine
by Abigail.Dee
Summary: No one ever said that being a step-mother was easy. Please read & review. H/P with other pairings mentioned.
1. Try

**AN: In this story, Haley is still alive. Hotch not only has Jack who is now 6, he also has Riley, his withdrawn 15 year old daughter. Emily and Hotch's relationship is a secret to the team, and to Jack and Riley.**

_Chapter One_

Emily woke up with a start. Her alarm was on extremely loud, which she still was getting used to. She turned the alarm off and tried to go back to sleep. Within two seconds, she felt something jabbing her ribcage.

"Prentiss." Hotch whispered. The whisper was actually more of a stage whisper.

"Go away." She whined with a smile. He kissed her forehead and reminded her to get up. Emily pulled the pillow out from under her head and hit Hotch in the face it.

"Hey! What the hell!" He laughed.

"That's what you get for turning my alarm clock on so damned loud."

"Sorry baby." He cooed mockingly. He got out of Emily's bed and went into the bathroom. Sitting up in her bed, Emily sighed. She really hated mornings, but having Aaron there really made things better. Of course, they hadn't told the team about their budding relationship. There were rules, but who really knows? The past four had been amazing, she thought, and if they kept being so great, they might tell the team. For now it was a mutual, silent agreement to keep the relationship in the shadows.

"Emily?" Aaron said, opening the door to the bathroom.

"Yeah. I'm up." She said, stretching dramatically.

"Okay, just checking." He said with a small smile. Emily gave him the finger before getting out of bed. Aaron laughed. Emily was a breath of fresh air in his life full of criminals. She had changed him; he was happier, he smiled more.

"Get out of the bathroom, moron. I need it too, and you're just standing in the doorway watching me. Creep." She giggled, kissing him on the cheek as she gently shoved him out of the bathroom.

"Can you remind me to leave today at five please? I can't stay no matter what." Hotch said.

"You're picking up Jack and Riley right?" Emily asked.

"Yeah, it's the second Friday of the month."

"Is Riley actually going to come this time?" Emily asked. She knew there was some bad blood between Hotch and his 15 year old daughter. Riley was a good kid, she was just...a teenager. The previous month, Riley did not come with Aaron because she was going to a school dance.

"She says she is. Riley just gets pissed because of how many times I've canceled on her and Jack. I think she just doesn't come sometimes to get me back." Hotch said with a sigh. He loved his kids, and wanted more than anything to see them, but it was hard.

"You don't do it on purpose." Emily yelled from behind the bathroom door.

"I know, but it's hard to convince a teenage girl that everything is not personal." He chuckled sadly. Emily opened the door of the bathroom.

"You're going at five?" She asked and he nodded. "I'll come with you!"

"Why? It's a long drive."

"Come on. It'll be fun. I love Jack, it I'd like to get to know Riley better." Emily said happily.

"If you want to, you're more than welcome." Hotch said. With that, Aaron left Emily's room and went down the stairs to make coffee. Emily thought about what she'd agreed to do. She was going to go pick up Jack and Riley with Aaron. That didn't sound like much to most people...well not most people. Just anyone who's never been in the car for over an hour with a hyperactive six year old, and a sullen fifteen year old. That didn't mater, Emily thought. These were Aaron's kids. She wanted to be a part of Aaron's life, which meant becoming part of theirs. She'd already won Jack over, now she had to try to win over Riley. She knew that this would not be easy, but she would do anything for Aaron.

**

"Here we are." Hotch said as he stopped the car. Him and Emily undid their seat belts and exited the car.

"Yep." Emily said quietly.

"Nervous about Riley?" Hotch asked, knowing before she answered that he was correct. He knew that his daughter was...difficult. She was quite cynical and mouthy. Riley was a smart kid; she was very talented. She was just quite hard to get along with.

"Yeah."

"Don't be. Also, don't take anything she says too personally." He said as they knocked on the door. The door swung open with such a force, Emily thought it would pop off it's hinges. There stood Jack Hotchner, and he had the widest smile Emily had seen on anyone, ever.

"Daddy! Emmy!" He screamed and threw his arms around his father. After a long hug, he let go and threw his arms around Emily. She couldn't help but smile. Haley came to the door, and invited them in. They all followed Jack into the living room and sat down. Aaron politely said hello to Haley's new fiancée Eric, and after a few awkward moments, the four adults were talking animatedly about nothing.

"Hello Dad." Riley piped in loudly. No one had noticed that she entered the room. Right off the bat, she knew that getting to know Riley would be harder than she thought. Everything about this girl, from her clothes to her body language just screamed 'get lost.'

"Riley!" Hotch said happily. "You remember Emily?" He gestured to Emily who waved at Riley.

"Hello Riley. No dances to go to this weekend?" She asked politely.

"Bite me."

"Riley!" Haley and Aaron snapped at the same time.

"Sorry. I mean, bite me or don't bite me? You are the guest so you decide." She said cynically.

"RILEY!" Haley yelled.

"It's okay." Emily said quietly.

"No it's not! Get your stuff now!" Haley snapped.

"Whatever." Riley said and she disappeared down the hall.

"Sorry about her." Haley said. "She's been going through a kind of..."

"She's vicious." Eric finished. "She used to be the sweetest girl, but lately she's been just nasty."

"It's a teenager thing." Emily insisted.

"No it's not. She's crazy." Haley sighed.

"Well, you get the weekend to yourself at least." Hotch said with a little optimism for Haley.

"I guess."

"Jack, are you ready to go?" Hotch asked his son.

"I've been ready for six million hours! You are the slow ones, jeez." He said, throwing his arms up in frustration. Everyone laughed.

"Riley!" Hotch yelled down the hall. "We're going." Riley came down the hall holding both Jack's suitcase and her own.

"I figured." She said. After goodbyes and hugs, they all set out for the car. Once they were outside, Emily initiated communication with Riley.

"You can have the front seat if you want?" She offered. Riley gave her a look that pretty much said; _'bitch, back right off.'_ Emily was surprised that such a look of distaste could come from such a pretty, young girl.

"It's fine." Riley said in an annoyed voice. Emily soon realized that this would be a LONG weekend.

**Should I continue? Read and Review :)**


	2. Can't Stop

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or Can't Stop.**

Chapter Two

Emily, Hotch, Riley and Jack had been in the car for about ten minutes. Riley was silently listening to her iPod while Jack told a story about his first grade class. Emily and Hotch both listened to Jack, but Emily's mind wasn't really there. She was trying desperately to think of a way to relate to Riley. Emily could remember being a teenager, and she knew that she too was withdrawn, but Riley hardly even talked. Jack jabbed Riley in the arm while he told his story.

"What?" Riley asked. Emily had not heard Riley talk this nicely to anyone. She was substantially nicer to Jack than anyone else. She was protective of him.

"Our song is on the radio. I don't want you to listen to your iPod when our song is on." He scolded.

"Sorry baby." She said, patting his head. "I didn't even hear it."

"That's 'cause it's too quiet. Puuuuhhhleeeasse turn it up!" Jack pleaded. Emily laughed and turned the volume up. "Can't Stop" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers filled the car.

"You like this song buddy?" Hotch asked Jack.

"Yes! It's Riley's and my song! She teached me how to play it on the guitar. She says I play like a pro!" Jack squealed happily.

"You play the guitar?" Emily asked Riley. Hotch never told her that Riley was musically talented.

"Some." Riley said quietly.

"Are you kiddin'?" Jack asked, sounding appalled. "Some? She plays lots of guitar! She plays the normal guitar, the bass guitar, the piano, the violin and the sexophone!" Hotch and Riley burst out laughing, and Emily snorted, trying to hide her laughter as to not embarrass Jack.

"Jackie, I don't play the sexophone. It's called a saxophone baby." She said through her laughter.

"Oh. Oops." He said.

"It's an honest mistake buddy." Hotch said after regaining his composure. "Riley, I never heard about you playing the saxophone. When did you start?"

"Two years ago." Riley said bleakly.

"Really?" Hotch said after a lengthy, awkward pause.

"Yes. I invited you to a performance six months ago." She snapped. Another awkward pause ensued.

"I'm so, so sorry. I was on a case. I forgot."

"I bet you remember every detail of the damned case." Riley snapped, even more angrily. This was the longest pause so far. Emily was surprised that Hotch didn't remember something like that about Riley. The tension was so thick, even Jack understood the amount of awkwardness. He wanted to make the silence go away, so when the song got to the chorus, he screamed at the top of his lungs;

_"The world I love, _  
_The tears I drop. _  
_To be part of _  
_The wave,__ can't stop._  
_Ever wonder if it's all for you!"_

Emily saw what Jack was trying to do, and she reached around and patted his hand lovingly. Riley's headphones were already over her ears, so she didn't hear Jack's attempt to salvage the ride. He shrugged, and Emily shrugged back. Hotch focused on the road for the rest of the drive, and Riley didn't make another peep. Jack and Emily sang together and chatted through the rest of the long, quiet ride.

**

They had been in Hotch's house for about 2 hours once the kids were finally settled in. Riley was flipping through one of Hotch's case files, despite his protest. Jack watched "Finding Nemo" absentmindedly. Hotch was getting some chinese food for dinner, so it was just Riley, Jack and Emily.

"Hey Emily?" Riley began.

"What's up Riley?"

"I've got a bit of a question, but I don't know if I should ask. You might be offended." She said.

"You can ask me anything." Emily said happily.

"Are you sleeping with my father?" Riley asked, bleakly. Emily was taken aback.

"What...? Why would..why would you ask that?" Emily asked.

"You drove over an hour to pick up a guy's son and bratty teen. You're staying here, even though you don't really need to. I've seen how you look at each other." Riley shrugged.

"What? I mean...What? Why do you want to know?" Emily asked.

"Why won't you answer?" Riley asked with a smirk. Emily had no idea how to respond. "I don't care. I just want to know."

"Well...your dad and I are together." She admited with a sigh.

"Okay." Riley shrugged, returning to the case file.

"Wait, what? That's it?"

"Yeah. I just wanted to know. I wanted to see if you were honest."

"How would know if I was honest? I could have lied." Emily pointed out.

"I'd have known for two reasons."

"And what are those reasons?" Emily asked.

"Well, first of all, my dad is a profiler. Even though I never see him, he has taught me how to tell if someone is lying." She said with a small smile.

"Okay, and what is the second reason." Riley smiled when Emily asked this.

"My father told me that you were together when he called Jack and I on Tuesday." She said.

"Oh."

"I just wanted to know if I could trust you." She said. "And if I offended you...I encourage you to bite me." Emily lauged slightly.

"I understand." Emily said. At this point, she began to think that she might just be able to warm up to Riley yet. She realized that the biggest issue wasn't going to be her getting to know Riley. The issue will be getting Hotch closer to Riley.


	3. Perfect

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds.**

**A/N: Sorry about the chapter I posted earlier, apparently it didn't save after I fixed all the issues...Sorry again.**

Chapter Three

"Food's here." Hotch said as he carried Chinese food into the house. Emily went over to help take everything in, but she was surprised to see that Riley beat her there. Emily and Hotch booth looked at her oddly.

"Stop staring at me, I'm just helping." Riley sighed as she took the food.

"Riley, why don't you grab Jack's food and your own. I need to talk to your dad." Emily asked.

"Why don't you-" Riley began before Hotch looked at her sternly. "-let me get on that. Jackie, food." She called. Emily pulled Hotch up the stairs of his relatively new house, and closed the door once they got into his room.

"You told your daughter that we were sleeping together?!" She snapped.

"NO! I told her that we were dating, that way if you stayed over or were here a lot, she wouldn't wonder." Hotch explained.

"Oh. Hah, okay." She said, relieved.

"Why would you ask that?!"

"Because she asked me!" Emily said.

"Oh. Sorry." Hotch said quietly.

"It's fine. It's not your fault."

"Haley was right, she is a bit testy." Hotch said.

"Well..." Emily said, but she stopped.

"What do you mean well?"

"Nothing, just...I kind of understand her. She like her parent's work is more important than her. I lived that life." Emily sighed.

"I want to re-connect with her, but she's not making it easy!" He spat defensively.

"It wouldn't hurt if you could remember simple facts about her!" Emily spat back.

"Jesus, you're on my case too?" He snapped.

"I'm on your case when you snap at me!" She yelled. Hotch realized how stupid he was being, so he hugged Emily and said that he was sorry. They both returned down the stairs and had dinner with Riley and Jack. The rest of the night consisted of watching family movies with Jack while Riley read, listened to music, or fooled around on her laptop.

**

"I know I promised that I wouldn't have to go into work, but-" Hotch began the next morning. He had just gotten a call about a new case. He just wanted to go in and review it with the team. Emily was supposed to go too, but she told Hotch that she'd go review it, but she would stay with Hotch and his kids for the weekend.

"Figgures." Riley said, droping her breakfast fork on the table and getting up from the table. Jack repeated her, but he didn't really understand.

"Do you want to come with me?" Hotch asked desperatley. Riley paused.

"Yeah. Okay." She said, picking up her fork and plate, then placing them in the sink. She then went upstairs to get ready.

"I come too?" Jack asked.

"I guess you have to." Emily said.

"Yes! I'm gonna catch the none-sub!" Jack said happily. Aaron and Emily laughed.

"Unsub." Hotch corrected.

"That too." Jack said. After that Hotch took Jack upstairs to get him ready, and Emily did the dishes.

**

"Good luck." Emily said to the team as they all walked away to go to the jet. Jack had played his DS (with his headphones in) in the conference room while JJ breafed the team on the new case. A sereal killer in Florida was kidnapping teens from a small high school. There was not too much physical evidence, so it would be a tough case. The team waved at Emily and Hotch as they left. Emily and Hotch had to promise to leave their phones on incase they needed help.

"Did you see where Riley went?" Emily turned to Hotch and asked.

"Yeah, she said she was going to, and I quote, 'annoy the happy tech chick'." Hotch lauged. "Could you go tell her we can go home now? I'll get Jack ready." Emily nodded and went to Garcia's office. She opened the door, and was totally surprised by what she saw. Riley was talking animatedly with Garcia; she was smiling and laughing. She stopped when she saw Emily open the door.

"Uh-" Emily studdered. "We're leaving now."

"Alright." Riley sighed. After saying goodbye to Garcia, she left the room.

"How the hell did you do that?!" Emily yelled.

"What?! What did I do?!" Garcia asked, totally surprised.

"Get Riley to TALK!" Emily asked.

"I don't know? My superiour intelect?"

"I'm being serious! She won't talk to me. At all."

"What's the big deal? It's just Hotch's daughter. Who cares if she doesn't like you?" Garcia asked.

"I do." Emily said quietly.

"Why...OH!" Garcia gasped. "Are you...Are you sleeping with Hotch?!" She asked, and she didn't even need Emily's answer before she squealed and began laughing.

"Please! Do NOT tell anyone!" Emily snapped.

"Relaaaaax Prentiss. I'm don't care, I just saw it coming a mile away. If I saw it coming, I bet the team did too."

"I don't care if they think we're together. I just don't want them to know." Emily said.

"So, you want Riley to like you because you like Hotch." Garcia laughed.

"Help me?" Emily pleaded.

"Yeah. Obviously."

"Okay! What the hell do you talk to her about?" Emily asked.

"Okay...first of all, don't try to be all buddy buddy with her. Chances are, she knows about the relationship, and she'll feel threatened by it. Especially considering how often she sees Hotch. She'll feel insulted, like you're mocking her relationship with him. Next, talk about music." Garcia began.

"Music?" Emily asked. It seemed like such an obvious topic.

"Music. She has an extensive knowlege of music. Especially instruments and dance. She takes dance lessons too, so talk about that. Don't ask her about teachers she likes, ask her about what teachers she hates. It'll give her a chance to vent to you, and make fun of them. Oh, and ask her about her grade nine year."

"Why?"

"She started in a Catholic high school, and Haley pulled her out after the one year. It's a hilarious story." Garica said, with a small laugh. "Talk to her about cases. She thinks they're intresting. And the biggest rule? Do NOT talk about her father. It's a soft spot for her." She finished.

"How do you know all of this?" Emily asked, shocked.

"I don't know. I remember being a teenager." She shrugged. Emily thanked Garcia, and left the office, ready to make a good impression on Riley.


	4. Music

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds.**

Emily braced herself before she knocked on Riley's door. They had only been home for an hour, but she decided it was the perfect time to try and chat. It took all she had, but she eventually pounded on the closed, locked door.

"Yeah?" Riley yelled over the music coming from her laptop, through her door. Emily took a deep breath and opened the door.

"Hello Riley." She said cheerfully. She instantly realized that Riley was listening to "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen, and thought this may be a good icebreaker.

"Hi." Riley said quietly.

"So...You like Queen?" Emily asked.

"Who doesn't?" Riley asked. Emily nodded in agreement. Riley was quite surprised. She did not expect Emily to like anything good.

"What else do you like?" Emily asked. Rather than listing all of the many, many songs she liked, Riley tossed Emily her iPod. As she looked through, Emily noticed many songs she liked. Riley's iPod contained almost the same songs as her own. She tossed Riley her iPod, and it was clear that Riley was just as surprised as she was.

"You like some good things." Riley said, nodding with approval.

"So what are you doing today?"

"Whatever my dad lets us do. I don't really have any friends around here." Riley said with a shrug.

"Why is that?"

"We're never her." Riley pointed out and Emily nodded.

"How do you like school? You're in tenth grade, right?" Emily asked, taking Garcia's advice.

"Yeah."

"What classes do you have this year?"

"First semester I had English, drama, Italian and math. Now I have dance, history, science and music."

"Your school has a dance class?" Emily asked. She had never heard of a school offering dance. Riley then excitedly explained the dance curriculum. Apparently Riley had been taking dance classes since she was a little kid. This was the first time that Emily had heard Riley talk so excitedly about anything. After some more probing from Emily, Riley was telling her about her whole school life. From what Emily could gather, she was quite popular. She had many friends, but prefered to just hang out with her close knit group. She hated history and was better in English than in math. Her music teacher was "the most evil woman of all time" but her Italian teacher was "the sweetest thing." They even spoke some Italian to each other for a while. Emily couldn't believe how well Garcia's advice worked.

"Speaking of school, Garcia told me that you were kicked out of Catholic high school. Is that true?" Emily asked. Riley began to laugh.

"No, it's not! I wasn't "kicked out." My mother pulled me out." Riley laughed.

"Why would she do that? Weren't you in Catholic school most of your life?"

"Yeah, but the teachers didn't like me at the high school." Riley shrugged.

"They didn't like you? Did you give them reason to not like you?" Emily asked knowingly.

"Maybe a bit." Riley said with fake innocence in her voice.

"What did you do?" Emily asked.

"It wasn't just one thing. I just made comments about the religion as a whole." Riley shrugged.

"Oh."

"Yeah, I just really didn't like the nuns at my school. I met the other nuns at other shcools and they were nice, and great teachers. Just, the ones at my school were condesending and nasty." Riley said. "Long story short, in religion class I wrote "Chuck Norris" for every answer on the exam. I also wrote an opinion essay about gay marrage. It didn't go over so well, and it ended in a little in school protest that I ran." Riley laughed.

"Wow. You lead a protest in school. That's crazy." Emily lauged.

"I know. I really have no problem with religion, but I hate when people are nasty about it. I was supposed to go to a different Catholic school for grade ten. I actually liked the nuns. Sister Mary Catherine, my mom's friend who teaches at the other Catholic high school in my neighbourhood, said I was very brave for defending my essay. She said that it didn't mater what the nuns said, and that it was a well written essay. Sadly, my mother won't let me near a Catholic school ever again." Riley laughed.

"Hey Riley?" Emily began.

"Yeah?" She asked.

"Thanks for talking to me." Emily said with a smile.

"Thanks for listening. You know, you're really not as bad as I thought." Riley said and Emily laughed.

"I'm glad." She said as she exited Riley's room.

**

Later that night, Emily filled Hotch in on her conversations with Riley.

"I can't believe she was so good to you." Hotch said, shaking his head.

"Riley's not a bad kid. She's rough around the edges, but she's not too bad." Emily said.

"You know her opinion may not have totally changed. She may turn around and be nasty again."

"I know it. She's a teenager Hotch, they're all imbalanced!" She laughed. Hotch looked at Emily in disbelief. He could not believe how much she had done. She stuck her neck out. She crossed enemy lines, unarmed.

"Why did you do it all?" Hotch said.

"What do you mean?"

"Why did you spend the whole day trying to make her like you? That was almost...brave!" Hotch joked.

"Aaron," she said in a serious tone. "I did it for you."

"For me?!" He said, surprised.

"Yes. I want your kids to like me. I want them to like me becaue I like you." She said, jokingly pinching his cheek.

"Em?" Hotch asked.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks." He said while kissing her head.

**Thanks for reading & please review :)**


	5. The Name of the Game

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or Alice in Wonderland.**

**A/N: From now on, I am going to dedicate chapters to people who have reviewed the previous chapters. If you want a shout out, review the chapter. Good or bad, I want to here from you. **

**This chapter is dedicated to "nataliebianca."**

"So, only a few more hours until I have to take you guys home. What do you want to do?" Hotch asked Riley and Jack.

"See a MOVIE!" Jack yelled. Jack adored going to movie theatres. He hardly even watched the movie; he was just in awe at the whole theatre.

"What about you Riley? A movie?" Hotch asked.

"I guess." Riley shrugged.

"I want to see Alice and Wonderland." Emily said, and Jack happily agreed. Hotch was not really interested in seeing that movie, but he would for them. Riley was actually excited to go, as she loved Johnny Depp. They agreed to see the 12:30 show because they had to leave to get the kids back to Haley's at 5. They got all ready and left to go to the theatre.

"Nintey nine bottles of beer on the waaaaaalll." Jack whailed suddenly.

"Jack Hotchner, don't you dare!" Hotch joked.

"Ninety nine bottles of beeeeer!" He yelped.

"You take one down and pass it around, ninety eight bottles of beer on the wall." Emily yelled dramatically. Jack and Emily continued until they got to eighty bottles of beer on the wall. Hotch continued to fake being annoyed because Jack thought it was funny. Hotch thought that Riley and Emily were getting along better, but she wasn't singing along. She was staring out the window. Maybe everyone being friendly was too big of a goal he thought, but he suddenly heard...

"Seventy nine bottles of beer on the wall, seventy nine bottles of beer!" Riley yelled out suddenly. Everyone in the car was startled. Both Emily and Jack whacked her lightly, saying she scared them to death. Hotch was just happy to see Riley participate. He looked in his mirror and saw his little girl. Well...not his little girl anymore. It seemed as though it was only yesterday that she was Jack's age. She had curly blond hair, and gigantic blue eyes. Her cheeks were always flushed on her pale face. She had a small gap between her first two teeth, making her smile cute for a child. Riley was so small, much smaller than the average 5 year old. Now, she was so different. Her once curly blond hair was now straight, and dyed brown. Her face was still pale, but her cheeks weren't as red anymore. The gap between her teeth had been closed by braces four years ago. She was not small for her age, she was average height. This was barely the girl he knew. Hotch wondered how it was that she had changed so much, and he never noticed. He sadly realized that he didn't notice because he was never there.

Watching her sing the timeless childhood tune made Hotch sad. He couldn't believe how much he'd missed in his children's lives. He liked to think that he was a good father, but now he wasn't so sure. Riley had had countless dance recitals and competitions. She even went to the world level for ballet two years ago. He never saw her dance other than once when she was seven. Sure, Haley taped them, but it was not the same. Volleyball games, piano recitals, etc. He had missed them all. The same went for Jack. He started playing soccer and hockey two years ago, and Hotch had yet to see him play. He sighed sadly and he returned all of his thoughts to the road. As if she could read his thoughts, Emily put her hand on his shoulder and squeezed it. He looked over, and she smiled at him.

Neither the line for the tickets or the line for the consession stand were too long. Jack got a popcorn and a grape koolaid. Riley and Hotch laughed at Emily for getting popcorn and cherry koolaid. She merely stuck her tongue out at the two Hotchners. Riley got Skittles and a Coke, while Hotch just got a Coke. They all watched the movie in silence, loving every minute.

"I can't believe how good that was!" Hotch said excitedly. Emily was surprised by how much Hotch loved it. She knew that she'd like the movie, but Hotch could be a mystery, even someone in her line of work.

"OFF WITH HER HEAD!" Jack screamed as they walked through the parking lot, looking for their car. Riley made an exaggerated chopping sound to go with Jack's movie quote, and the chopping sound sent Jack into a fit of hysterics.

"I loved it." Emily said and Riley agreed. It was nice, Hotch thought, that they all got together and bonded as a family. Hotch just hoped it wasn't too late to save his relationships with his children.

**

"Thanks for taking them. Bye!" Haley said to Hotch after he dropped off the kids, said goodbye and returned to the car. Suddenly, Riley booked out of the house and tapped on Hotch's car window. He rolled it down.

"If you don't have a case any days...next week is March break." She said, trying to sound like she wasn't "asking." Hotch smiled to himself.

"Riley Ann Hotchner, are you asking if you can come see your FAMILY? What? Isn't that immoral?" He said cynically. She frowned jokingly, but then looked at her feet.

"Whatever." She said, turning back to the house.

"Riley," Emily said. "I will call you even if your stupid dad won't. I will make sure that we see you two during March break."

"Thanks Prentiss." She said quietly. She then waved at Hotch and Emily, and ran back to the house.

"I can't believe how grown up she is." Hotch said to himself, but out loud.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean I've missed her whole damn life." He snapped. "What the hell is my problem? I have two amazing children, and I never see them."

"Hotch," Emily said. "It's not your fault. It's the job."

"No, it is my fault. Do you know how many day's I've worked late to get ahead when I could have been home? Do you know how many times I've went in on my days off? I've canceled on them countless times, but I've never canceled work. Do you know what Riley said to me this weekend?"

"What?"

"That she usually felt disposable. That she was nothing compared to my work. She said that this was the first time in months that I came through for her. It broke my heart. Jack said that he'll see me next year. He thinks I leave him for a year at a time!" Hotch snapped. Emily was quiet for a moment.

"Hotch, they're just kids."

"Riley's almost an adult and I've missed it all." He sighed.

"Well then, now that you know the problem, fix it." She said. "Stop pitying yourself and step up!"

"How?"

"Well...call them as often as you can. Riley said her friend Amelia's father calls her every night. Get a laptop with a webcam. She has one, you could have video conversations while you're on cases. Talk to her about the cases. She's really interested in them. Stop working on your few days off, and once in a while take a day off to see them play sports or dance." Emily listed.

"Wow. Those ideas are great." Hotch said, smiling at Emily.

"Meh, I'm no Reid, but I have my moments." She joked.

"No, you're right. I'm going to take your advice. I'll step up and be a good dad." He said. "You know Prentiss, you'd make one hell of a mother." Emily was taken aback.

"Thank you." She blushed.

"Nope. Thank you." He said, starting the car.


	6. Let's Give Them Something To Talk About

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds**

**A/N: From now on, I am going to dedicate chapters to people who have reviewed the previous chapters. If you want a shout out, review the chapter. Good or bad, I want to here from you. **

**This chapter is dedicated to "nataliebianca" and "Sierra ****Clearwater****"  
****

The alarm went off as per usual, but this time, Emily jumped out of bed.

"What's the rush?" Hotch asked, sounding tired.

"No rush." Emily lied. She started throwing her pajamas off and flinging her clothes for the day.

"No rush? Do you think I'm blind?" Emily hesitated.

"I wanted to get to work before you."

"Why? I can drive you." He offered.

"Hotch; you've been driving me you work a lot lately. Plus we took exactly the same weekend off." Emily began.

"You think they suspect something?" He asked.

"What do you think? We knew about Will and JJ almost a year before they admitted they were together and we didn't see them both every day." Emily pointed out, almost running around Hotch's room to get her things together.

"Well," he began. "What if they knew? Would it really be that bad?" Emily stopped dead in her tracks. She really didn't want the team to know. If they knew, it would be...real. It would be serious. Whenever it got to that point, everything fell apart, and she didn't want their relationship to end.

"I don't want to have this conversation at 6 in the morning. We agreed to keep this under raps until we knew what this was." She protested.

"You don't know what this is?" He asked. She paused. She was in love with him, and wanted to be with him forever, but if the team knew...

"No. I don't know if we're really there yet." She lied.

"Oh." Hotch breathed. He didn't know if he had a right to be bothered by Emily's comments, never the less, he was.

"Sorry." She lied again.

"No, its okay I guess. We'll keep it quiet for the time being."

"Okay." She said, feeling very guilty. "I'll see you at work then?"

"Yep." He said quietly, rolling away from Emily as she got ready.

**

"So how was your weekend with the kids?" Rossi asked Hotch when he got to work.

"It was nice. Riley was a bit...standoffish in the beginning, but she warmed up to us." Hotch said.

"Us?" Rossi asked.

"I meant me." Hotch said quietly.

"Anyways," Garcia cut in, realizing where this was going. "Riley said you saw Alice in Wonderland this weekend. Was it good?"

"How did you know?" Hotch asked.

"It's her Facebook status." Garcia shrugged.

"You have Hotch's daughter as a friend on Facebook?" Reid asked with a laugh.

"Yeah, she added me when she came here on the weekend. Is that creepy?" She asked, sounding concerned.

"If it was anyone but you, I'd be concerned." Hotch said, cracking a small smile. Everyone stopped dead.

"Did I just see that correctly?" JJ asked cynically.

"I think I saw it too!" Morgan said, going along with the joke. "But I don't believe it."

"Maybe it was a twitch?" Reid asked.

"Oh, screw all of you." Hotch said.

"So, how was the movie?" JJ asked. "I actually want to see it."

"I liked it. Riley loved it." Hotch said.

"Jack was..." Emily said, but she realized what she was about to say. "Scared I assume?" Everyone looked oddly at Emily. They caught her mistake too.

"Yeah, but he pretended he wasn't." Hotch said, trying to cover up Emily's slip.

"You've seen it?" Morgan asked Emily.

"Yes."

"Speaking of this weekend, why did you take the weekend off Prentiss?" Rossi asked.

"I...I...was." She stammered. She didn't have an excuse planned. "Seeing my...my...mother?"

"Your mother?" JJ asked, clearly not buying it.

"Yes?" She said, but it sounded much more like a question.

"Let's get back to work." Hotch said, trying to change the subject. Emily was very thankful.

**

"Emily, come in here." JJ called. Emily went into JJ's office.

"What's up?" Emily asked.

"Are you going to tell me where you were this weekend? Or do I have to get Morgan and Reid in here to interrogate you?" She joked.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Emily lied. Apparently she was doing a lot of lying that day.

"I'm no profiler, but I can tell you're lying. Do you remember when I started seeing Will and you all knew?" JJ asked.

"Yeah." Emily said.

"You didn't even see Will and you knew. Imagine if you'd seen both of us?"

"Why are you telling me this?" Emily asked nervously.

"Emily, everyone knows." JJ said, rolling her eyes. "I wanted to tell you so you didn't find out from anyone else. They're going to ask Hotch about it later."

"How the HELL did you guys know?" Emily shouted.

"You underestimate the profilers here." JJ shrugged.

"You're not a profiler." Emily pointed out.

"Yes, but the profilers here are chatty."

"Who told you?" Emily asked.

"Well, about four months ago, Rossi and Morgan started speculating. They told Reid, Garcia and I. Reid and I didn't really buy it right away, but after a while, we caught on."

"Wh-" Emily began but JJ cut her off.

"I think it's great. Are you happy?" She asked.

"More than I've been in a long time." Emily blushed.

"Then I'm happy for you." JJ said, pulling Emily into a small embrace.

"Can you do me a favour?" Emily asked.

"Depends on what the favour is." JJ laughed.

"Call the team into the conference room."

"You're going to tell them?" She asked, shocked.

"Why not? You all already know. Might as well make it official." Emily laughed.

**

"JJ, what's going on?" Rossi asked, once they were already in the conference room.

"Yeah, you rushed us in here, is it bad?" Hotch asked.

"Nope." JJ said. "Emily wants to say words."

"Alright. So apparently you've all been taking bets about whether Hotch and I are sleeping together." She scoffed.

"That wasn't all of us!" Garcia protested. "Only Derek, Reid and Rossi put money on it."

"Rat." Morgan whispered loudly. Everyone laughed.

"Well, the betting and wagering of any kind can stop." She said more seriously.

"Em." Hotch began.

"It's fine." Emily said turning to Hotch. "I lied this morning. I know what this is; I just got freaked out by the idea of everyone knowing."

"Does this mean...?" Spencer began.

"Yes. I am in LOVE with Aaron Hotchner." She said loudly. All was silent for a few moments.

"And, I love her." Hotch said awkwardly. The silence dragged on for about 5 minutes. Finally Derek cleared his throat.

"Two things." He began. "One, I'm really happy for you guys and I've kind of seen it coming since Emily started here." Hotch and Emily smiled.

"I agree." JJ said.

"And the second thing?" Rossi asked.

"Reid owes Rossi and I ten bucks." Morgan laughed. The rest of the team laughed too, with the exception of Reid who was pulling two ten dollar bills out of his wallet. Hotch kissed Emily on the head, thankful that she decided to tell the team. The secrets were all out in the open.

**So there wasn't any Riley and Jack in this chapter, but I needed to let the team know. Anyways, the next chapter will focus on Hotch's relationship with Riley. It will also look at Emily and Jack's relationship. Thanks for reading, and please review :)**


	7. Push It

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or any of the songs that are mentioned in **

**This chapter is dedicated to "nataliebianca"  
****

"Yeah Riley?" Hotch said into phone. It was Wednesday, and the team was getting back from Texas. They had just caught an serial rapist who was abducting women from their homes, holding them for 4 days, then putting their unconscious, naked bodies in a dump. Thankfully, not on of the women died.

"Hi!" She said brightly into the phone.

"Hi." He said.

"So, I heard you guys are coming home tonight."

"How did you know that?" He asked. "Did Emily call you?"

"No. I was just guessing. I really had no idea." Riley laughed.

"You're weird. Anyways, what's up?" Hotch said, smiling slightly, carefully hiding the smile from his team.

"Just wondering if you wanted me to come over for a bit. If you want me to, I'd be okay with that." Riley said.

"Oh, you'd be okay with that?" Hotch asked mockingly. He knew that his daughter wouldn't want to ask to visit outright.

"Shut up. Anyways, being at mom's is boring me. Please, can Jack and I stay with you for a night?"

"Why don't you guys come for the rest of the break?" Hotch asked impulsively.

"Are you serious?" Riley asked. "Don't you have to work?"

"Technically, I have this Friday off, and we're supposed to have weekends off. If you don't mind coming into work with me on Thursday, it shouldn't be an issue." Hotch said, reassuring himself.

"Okay! Are you really, really sure?" She asked.

"Riley, I haven't taken a day off in like 100 years. If need be, I'll take a day or two off. End of story."

"Shouldn't you be asking Emily too?" Riley asked.

"Jeez, who are you? My mother?!" Hotch asked, faking annoyance. Riley laughed, and Hotch couldn't suppress his laughter. The team looked at Hotch, surprised.

"Alright, alright. Well, I'm going to be at the dance studio until you pick me up." Riley said.

"Chances are, I picking you guys up until like, 8." Hotch said. "You'll still be there then?"

"On weekends and breaks I'm there until like 10. I have my own key." Riley laughed.

"Alright then. I'll see you then." Hotch said.

"Sounds good! See you then." She said, hanging up the phone.

"What was that? It sounded like you just laughed!?" Rossi asked.

"Don't you have paperwork to do?" Hotch snapped.

"Nope." He laughed. "You're acting very strange lately."

"How so?"

"You've both laughed and smiled within one week." Reid said.

"That's a record." Morgan said.

"Hey, leave him alone." JJ said.

"Thanks JJ." Hotch said.

"It's not his fault he has feelings." JJ laughed.

"You all suck, you know that?" Hotch said, returning to his paperwork.

"Ignore them." Emily said. "So, who were you talking to?"

"Riley. She wanted to know if she could stay over tonight."

"You said?" Emily asked.

"I told her to stay for the rest of the break." Hotch said. "Is that okay?"

"Don't you ask my permission! They're your children, you tell ME if they're coming, don't ask." Emily scolded.

"Alright. Sorry."

"Okay." Emily said. "Put your belt on, we're going to land."

"What's with people today? You all think you're my mother now?"

"Quiet or I'm going to ground you." Emily said, winking at Hotch.

"Is that a threat or a promise?" Hotch asked.

"Ew, could you please shut up? I'm going to puke." JJ laughed.

"Save it for when you're off the plane." Reid said. Emily and Hotch both laughed as the plane landed.

**

After picking up Jack, Hotch and Emily arrived at Riley's studio at about 8:15 that night. Emily decided to wait in the car with Jack, as Jack hated going into the studio.

"Lock up when you leave, okay?" A lady yelled into a room inside the studio. She turned to Hotch and smiled at him. "Hello, how can I help you?"

"Hi, I'm Aaron Hotchner. I'm Riley's father."

"You are Riley's father?" She asked, sounding surprised.

"Yes...?"

"Aren't you luck! I'm Julia Pacilla, I own the studio." She held out her hand, and Hotch took hers and shook it.

"So, you gave Riley a key to the studio?" He asked.

"Riley spends more time here than anyone. She cleans up and helps out a bit in exchange for discounts on her lessons." Julia explained. "Not that Riley needs the extra practice time. She could out dance anyone that dances her, including most of the teachers.

"Really?" He asked.

"Oh yeah. She's a very talented young lady, just look." She said, pointing to a window. Hotch looked through it, to see Riley putting a song on the MP3 player. "Tonight" by FM Static filled the studio, and Riley began a contemporary dance. It was beautiful. She was graceful and truly talented.

"See what I mean? And that's just her contemporary! You should see her tap...no jazz...no musical theatre...no acro. Yeah, acro. You need to see her acro solo!" She said excitedly. She ran into the room and got Riley to put on a different song. Rock music filled the studio and Hotch watched his daughter do moves that astounded him. She did things that he didn't even know were possible.

"She picked the song." Julia said once she got out of the room. "I never usually let the kids pick, but Riley's special."

"What is this song?" Hotch asked.

"I think it's called Evolution. It's by Korn." Julia said.

"Oh." Hotch said, as the door to the room Riley was in opened.

"Julie, why didn't you tell me my father was here?" Riley asked.

"We were watching you dance." Hotch said.

"Oh, well I'm done now I guess. I won't be back again until next week Jules." Riley said, with a small wave.

"Alright, have fun." Julia said, Hotch and Riley both said good bye.

**

"The car has an MP3 and iPod hookup. Plug your iPod in Riley." Emily suggested.

"Yeah, sure." She said, hooking her iPod up from the back seat of the car. "Choose something." She said, handing the iPod to Emily.

"Thanks man." Emily began flipping to the endless list of songs on Riley's iPod. She put on "What's My Age Again?" by Blink 182.

"I'm glad I have someone who likes decent music in my life. No one at my mother's house likes good stuff." Riley scoffed.

"Hey! I like this stuff!" Jack yelled in protest. He even started singing along to the song to prove his point.

"You're right Jackie, I meant there aren't any adults at mom's who like good music." Riley said, laughing. The ride went on, and so did the music. They decided to leave her iPod on shuffle, and they'd just listen to whatever came on. Of course, they had to change it many times because about 75% of Riley's songs were not appropriate for Jack to listen to. The shuffle eventually turned on "Push It" by Salt-N-Peppa. Riley's eyes went wide, and her cheeks went red.

"Well little miss punk rocker. What do we have here?" Emily asked cynically.

"I have no idea how this song got on my iPod." Riley lied, with a small laugh.

"LIAR!" Jack yelled. "Daddy! She's a liar! She loooves this song!"

"Jack! You've blown my cover!" Riley said jokingly.

"I can't believe you like Salt and Pepper." Hotch laughed. "Your mother used to listen to them all the time."

"I can't believe you just called them Salt and Pepper." Emily laughed. "Salt-N-Peppa Hotch."

"Listen here fifty cents, not all of us can be as street as you."

"Daddy, it's cent not cents." Jack said, laughing loudly.

"Oh whatever." Hotch laughed. Emily began to sing along with the song, and Riley began to sing with her. Jack cut in at some points, just causing everyone to laugh.

_"Yo yo yo yo baby pop, yeah you. Come here, give me a kiss. Better make it fast or else I'm gonna get pissed. Can you here the music pumping hard like I wish you would? Now push it! Push it good." _Hotch sang all of a sudden. Everyone in the car looked blankly at him.

"I didn't know you knew how to sing!" Jack exclaimed. Everyone laughed hystarically at Hotch's attempt at rapping.

"You should do that more." Riley said suddenly.

"What? Butcher perfectly good 90's music?" Emily laughed.

"You lie, that was great." Hotch said.

"No. That, what you're doing now." Riley said, as if it was obvious.

"What?" Hotch asked.

"Smile."

**A/N So, I have an idea, and I'm going to put it to a vote. Do you think we should add a Hotch/Prentiss baby anytime soon? Review this chapter, and put the answer in your review. I'll do whatever you guys pick. Review the chapter :)**


	8. Today

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or any of the songs that are mentioned in **

**This chapter is dedicated to "Sierra Clearwater" "mummacass" "McMackenzie" and "nataliebianca" and thanks to all of you for your opinions. :)**

******

Thursday morning came after an uneventful, peaceful Wednesday night. Emily looked over and saw Hotch sleeping soundly. It was 6:30, and since he finally had a day off, she decided not to annoy him and to just let him sleep. She put her robe on over her pajamas and started walking to the stairs. Emily heard the faint thumping of the bass line of a song coming from the kitchen. She opened the door and saw Riley cooking food, dancing in a pair of boxers and a tank top. Hotch said she had a beautiful singing voice, but what she was doing at that moment would be classified as yelling (not too loudly) along to the music. She was trying very hard to hold in her giggles, but when Riley started doing the running man, she couldn't hold it in anymore. Riley jumped, clearly startled. She looked at Emily, then turned off the music. She looked at Emily, then herself.

"If I'd known you were up," Riley began. "I would most likely have put pants on."

"Most likely?" Emily asked as she laughed.

"Yeah. Who's to say for sure?"

"I guess you're right. What are you doing up so early?" Emily asked.

"Couldn't sleep. I figured I'd just get up and making pancakes." Riley said.

"In your underwear."

"Yes, but that's a given. You can make anything more fun if you're dancing in your underwear." Riley shrugged. She said it as though it was the most obvious thing in the world, and everyone knew it.

"I'll keep that in mind." Emily laughed. "Do you need any help?"

"Not really, but if you want to help you're welcome to."

"Alright, I'm a crappy cook so there's not too much I can do." Emily joked.

"Gee, am I ever glad you're helping me." Riley laughed.

"What on earth are you two doing up at quarter to seven?" Hotch asked. Neither one of them heard him come into the kitchen. Riley finally decided to put longer pants on, and she met Jack in the hall.

"Are we going to daddy's work today?" Jack asked.

"Yeah baby. Are you still wanting to go? If not I'll stay home with you."

"NO! Are you CRAZY? I want to go to HQ." Jack said.

"HQ?" Riley laughed.

"Head quarters." Jack explained. Riley was about to say that she already knew and was just wondering why he called it that, but instead she just informed him that they were making pancakes. He ran into the kitchen and gagged.

"Is someone cooking THROW UP?" He asked in agony.

"Moring Jack." Hotch laughed. "No, Emily just attempted to cook the pancakes herself."

"Why? Is she trying to kill us?" He coughed.

"Thanks Jack." Emily said cynically. Riley entered the kitchen too.

"What did you DO to my pancakes?!" She shrieked.

"I just attempted to help." Emily said quietly. Riley started laughing.

"You weren't kidding when you said you couldn't cook."

"What do you know? You haven't even tasted them." Emily retorted.

"If they taste like they smell..." Hotch began but Emily elbowed him in the ribcage.

"Alright, damage control." Riley said as the smoke detector went off.

"Daddy, the pancakes are on fire." Jack said pointing to the pan. Sure enough, the pancakes were on fire. Hotch grabbed the pan and tossed it into the sink, turning on the cold water.

"How did you manage to do that? They're just pancakes!" Hotch laughed. The fire was out in a few seconds. All of the Hotchners were laughing, while Emily stared at her feet in embarrassment.

"That's not the safest way to put out kitchen fires." Riley pointed out.

"I don't care! It worked." Hotch said.

"How did you do that Emmy?" Jack asked.

"I have no idea."

"Okay. Forget about the pancakes." Riley said. She pointed to Hotch. "You get Jack ready to go to your work. Emily, you brew some coffe and dispose of the so called pancakes. I'll get myself ready and fix something else for breakfast.

"Since when are YOU mom?" Jack asked.

"I'm not." Riley protested. "That just took up a decent amount of time, and we need to get to dad's work."

"Riley's right, even if she is beyond bossy." Emily joked, Riley stuck her tongue out at her and ran up the stairs. Everyone ended up following Riley's directions, and they were all ready on time.

**

"And he was all 'push it real good.' We were all like, 'what?'" Riley told JJ and Morgan. They both started laughing. Hotch walked in to the conversation only to here that bit.

"What are you telling them?" He asked.

"You rapped? You actually RAPPED?" Morgan laughed.

"...No." He said quietly.

"I can't picture it." JJ said and she shook her head.

"Don't you have something else to do?" He asked.

"I'm keeping Reid's chair warm while he makes copies of stuff." Riley shrugged. "What else am I supposed to do?"

"I meant them." Hotch said, gesturing to the two agents who had pulled up chairs to listen to Riley tell stories about her father.

"We can work and talk at the same time, we've been doing it for years." Morgan joked.

"Thanks for holding my chair for me." Reid said when he returned from copying papers.

"No problem." She said, getting up and sitting back down on Reid's desk.

"Uhm...that's my desk." He protested.

"It is. How about that." Riley said blankly.

"Yeah..."

"It also happens to be my chair." She shrugged.

"Okay." He laughed. They continued conversation for a minute before Strauss walked into the room.

"I just wanted to remind you all about the charity ball on Friday." She said loudly.

"I totally forgot." Hotch mouthed to the other agents, and they nodded in unison. Emily walked in after her and judging by the look on her face, she forgot about the ball.

"A ball?" Riley asked. "That sounds super fun!"

"Oh, I didn't see you their Miss Hotchner. How are you doing?" She asked.

"Very well ma'am. And yourself?"

"Quite well. Children are invited to the ball too, so if you can behave, you should accompany your father." Strauss said.

"That sounds great ma'am. I'll be on my very best behaviour." Riley said politely.

"Excellent. I look forward to seeing you all there." Strauss said before she left.

"Shit. I forgot all about it." Morgan said.

"Same." Emily said. "I have no dress or anything."

"Neither do I, we should go shopping after work. Riley, if you're coming to the ball, you should come shopping with us." JJ said.

"That's very kind of you to invite me." She said happily.

"This sucks." Garcia said, emerging from her office. "Strauss just came in and told me I have to go to some charity ball. I have no dress or anything."

"Emily, can I invite Penelope to shop with us?" Riley asked.

"Of course you can." Emily laughed.

"I was already planning on asking her." JJ said.

"Great." Garcia said.

"At least you don't have to worry about a date." Morgan said to Hotch.

"Yeah, that's true." He said, kissing Emily's forehead.

"Barf." Riley said loudly.

"I think they're the only ones with a date, besides JJ of course." Reid pointed out.

"I got to round up a date by tomorrow night." Morgan thought out loud.

"Yeah, that'll be a challenge for you." Reid said, rolling his eyes.

"Yes, I imagine he'll have difficulties." Emily laughed.

"Alright, alright. You can pick me up at seven." Riley joked.

"You know what little lady, I might take you up on that. I won't have to go looking for a date." He laughed.

"You're stealing my man?" Garcia asked.

"Yes." Riley laughed.

"Well, at least you have a date." Reid sighed. "Even if it is a teenager, which by the way is a bit weird"

"Hey! He could do a lot worse than me!" Riley exclaimed jokingly. "But, I'll find you a date."

"You'll find me a date? How?" Reid asked, slightly intrigued.

"Don't you worry about that. You get you sexy self ready for the ball." Riley said with a wink.

"RILEY!" Hotch snapped, and everyone else laughed.

"Oh loosen up boss man, she's just joking. By the way, where's Jack?" Garcia asked.

"Rossi took him out for lunch. He was bored and Rossi offered to get him out for a bit." Hotch explained.

"Well that was nice of him." JJ said.

"I know."

"Anyways, I'm getting back to work so we can get out of here at a decent hour. I want to shop." Garcia said. The rest of the team followed Garcia's lead, and Riley tried her best to stay quiet and out of everyone's way.

**

"I hate shopping." Emily said, almost growling.

"Me too, I can never find things I look good in." JJ said.

"Ugh, this was a bad idea." Garcia sighed.

"What are you people whining about? Emily, you don't hate shopping. You just hate us all watching you try things on. Suck it up. JJ, anything looks good on you so zip it. Garcia, this was not a bad idea so shush. Now, you're here to get dresses, and I will make sure we don't leave until you have dresses. Unless you want to go naked. It would be quite a show, but I don't suggest it." Riley laughed.

"She's right, I guess." Emily grumbled.

"Let's just get this over with." Garcia agreed.

"Loving the spirit." Riley said under her breath as she grabbed a few dresses.

"What about this?" Emily said, holding up a black dress.

"Nope." Garcia said. "You're to pale for that dress. You need something bright!"

"To match your bubbly personality." Riley joked. Emily shoved her as Riley laughed.

"This?" JJ said, holding up a pale blue strapless dress. It had a black bow on it, and they all agreed that it would look good on her.

"Wear red." JJ said to Garcia. "It'll look good on you."

"Alright." She said showing all of them a red halter-top dress. It was so Garcia.

"I think I've found mine." Riley said. She held up a turquoise dress with spaghetti straps. It was covered in small black polka dots. It a good pick for her.

**

"This is hopeless." Emily said, throwing her arms up in frustration. They'd been to a total of 5 stores and Emily was the only one without a dress. She'd tried on quite a few, but she wouldn't just choose.

"Alright!" Garcia snapped. "This is the last store. We are picking a dress now. Let's go Prentiss."

"It's hard. I look ugly in everything." She whined.

"Oh, shut up." JJ said.

"You said the same thing in the first store." Garcia pointed out.

"Yes, but I was being honest." JJ said.

"If anyone looks ugly, it's me and it annoys me when you guys call yourselves ugly." Garcia said. Riley sighed angrily and the girls looked at her.

"For some of the prettiest girls I've ever met, you lack confidence. Why? None of you look ugly. Now, I could make you all look ugly by beating your faces. You all need to shut up and feel good about yourselves. Emily, pick a dress. Any dress." Riley ranted.

"Wow." JJ said. "You remind me of your father."

"Let's do this." Garcia said. From that moment on, the mood was substantially lighter. Emily tried on a dark, strapless pink dress and that was the one she went with. They all agreed she looked great. All of the girls grabbed dinner and laughed the whole time. All three of the girls liked Riley, and were glad she was there. There's nothing like a shopping trip to make you feel bad about yourself, and apparently there's nothing the logic of a moody 15 year old to make you feel better.

**A/N: Oops, much longer than I thought. Sorry about that. Anyways, the next chapter will be the ball. After that, I want to focus on getting Hotch closer with Riley and Jack, and once again I have ideas, but I want to put it to a vote. (I like getting others involved) So, one idea is a small trip. The other idea is the kids get the flu, and Hotch has to take care of them. In your review (and please review :D ) put in your vote, or if you have a better idea, let me know. Thanks for reading!**


	9. Dance Dance

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or any of the songs that are mentioned in **

**This chapter is dedicated to "boerwina" "McMackenzie" and "nataliebianca" and thanks to all of you for your opinions. :)**

******

"Jack, stop moving." Hotch scolded as he tried to get his son ready for the ball, which he thought he was too young to attend. Emily didn't agree and she gave Hotch an earful when he almost called a sitter.

"I hate ties; they make me feel like I'm dying. It's a noose." Jack whined.

"A noose?" Hotch laughed.

"Yes." Jack said, stomping his foot. "You already made me take a bath. I don't need any more torture you racist." Hotch laughed even more.

"I think you mean sadist Jack."

"What's the difference?" Jack asked.

"I'll explain later, just promise you won't call anyone a racist or sadist again." Hotch pleaded.

"If you don't make me wear a tie, I won't call anyone a racist or...what was the other word?"

"Sadist." Hotch said.

"Right. I won't call anyone those things if you don't put a tie on me."

"You're blackmailing me?" Hotch asked, barely able to fathom what was going on. Riley joked that Jack had the attitude of a 13 year old girl, since he had grown up with a sister and no brothers. Hotch wanted to laugh, but he could tell that Jack was trying very hard to be serious.

"Yes I am." Jack said.

"Alright, no neck tie." Hotch said, throwing his arms up in surrender.

"Good choice." Jack said, and Hotch laughed.

"I guess you're pretty much ready."

"I'm not Riley, I am a quick get-readyer." Jack pointed out.

"I'm not sure that's a word."

"Yeah it is. I made it up right now. All words have to be made up by someone." Jack reasoned, and Hotch was surprised at how logical that sounded. "Hey daddy?"

"Yes buddy?"

"I'm glad we come to your house now. I miss you all the time." He sighed.

"I'm sorry Jack." Hotch said, embracing his son.

"It's okay daddy. You just have to let us come over more, or I'll be mad at you again."

"You were mad at me?" Hotch asked.

"Yes!" He exclaimed. "Eric is okay, but he's not my daddy. I like seeing my own daddy."

"Jack, I am so sorry."

"Mommy says that actions are louder than words. I think she means that you have to do stuff and not just say it or it's a lie. You have to promise to see me more." Jack scolded.

"I promise, with all my heart, that I will see you and your sister more often." Hotch said.

"Okay! Good. I guess I'll wear the noose to the ball." Jack said with a big smile.

"You will?" Hotch exclaimed.

"Yeah. The babes like ties." Jack pointed out, making Hotch laugh.

"Good man." He said, embracing his son again.

**

They arrived at the ball at 6:00. It was going until late, but since they had Jack with them, Hotch decided that they would have to leave before it ended. Neither Aaron nor Emily knew what the money from the charity ball was going to, but Riley looked it up ahead of time. It was apparently for a new children's hospital. From the team, they were the last to arrive at the beautifully decorated hall. As he promised, Morgan met up with Riley and escorted her onto the dance floor. Hotch, Reid and Rossi offered to get the girls drinks, so they were left to chat alone for a bit.

"Where's Will?" Garcia asked JJ.

"Henry's sick and Will offered to stay with him. Strauss said I had to come to the ball no matter what." She said, rolling her eyes.

"You both look beautiful by the way." Emily said.

"Well thank you, so do you." Garcia said, and JJ agreed.

"Riley looks nice too." JJ said, pointing her out. She was dancing to a fast song with Morgan, and they were both laughing.

"That girl has too much hair." Emily said. "We both needed to use the blow dryer and the flat iron. She took so long. She has more hair than most people."

"It's nice though." JJ said.

"Mhm." Emily nodded.

"I wonder what they're talking about." Garcia said.

**

"I can't believe you actually went along with my date joke." Riley said to Morgan.

"Hey, I've had worse dates little lady." Morgan laughed. Riley actually had a bit of a motive for asking Derek to the ball. She'd talked to both Derek and Penelope. She figured out that their innocent flirtations meant more, and she decided to take matters into her own hands.

"Do you know who looks nice tonight?" She asked, and Morgan shook his head. "Penelope."

"Yeah, my baby girl always looks nice." Derek said, staring at Garcia. He realized what he was doing, and he snapped his attention back to Riley.

"You know you love her." Riley pointed out.

"It's...complicated." Morgan said hesitantly.

"That's the adult word that means 'too scared to try.'" Riley said.

"Who told you that?" He laughed.

"Don't change the subject." She hissed. "Do you like her?"

"...Yes. A lot. But she has Kevin."

"They broke up." Riley said.

"When?" He asked, surprised.

"I don't know. She told us about it when we were shopping. Derek, you know she likes you. Ask her to dance."

"But then I'll lose my date with you." He laughed.

"Oh, I'm sure I'll get over it. Now go. Ask her out, I have to go get Reid a date." Riley said, scurrying off. Morgan thought too himself for a while after Riley ran off. He had feeling for Garcia, but it really was complicated. But why did it have to be? He thought.

"Oh, what the hell." He said to himself, walking over to Garcia.

**

"Dr. Reid, I have someone you should meet." Riley said once she met up with Spencer, Hotch and Rossi, who seemed to have forgotten about the girls and began chatting by themselves.

"You've found me a date?" He asked, jokingly. He found out she was telling the truth when Riley gently shoved a petit blond girl towards him.

"This is Catherine Banks. She works in Counter Terrorism with Kevin. She likes Star Treck; she reads classic literature and speaks three languages. She's considered a genius, like you, but she only has a photographic memory. She's your age, and super nice." Riley said in one breath.

"Hi." Catherine laughed, taking Reid's hand in hers. It was obvious to everyone around that Reid was mesmerized by the woman.

"Maybe we should leave them to get closer?" Rossi suggested. Hotch and Riley agreed and they finally decided to meet up with the girls that they promised drinks to almost 30 minutes ago.

**

The evening was a success from a fundraising standpoint. A good amount of money was made, and all of the guests had a good time. At about 8:00, all of the speeches and things like that were out of the way, and they had the rest of the night to dance.

"I can't believe it." Emily whispered in Hotch's ear as they danced to the slow song that was playing.

"What?" He asked.

"Morgan just came right over, and professed his love for Garcia. Said it was time for them to really have a relationship. She nearly died." Emily laughed, and she pointed the two of them out to Hotch. They were dancing closely and Garcia rested her head on Morgan's shoulder.

"Well, look at Reid." Hotch said, pointing him out to Emily. Apparently Reid had taken a liking to Catherine and vice versa. They too were dancing closely, but they were chatting, where as Garcia and Morgan were not.

"That was Riley's doing. Come to think of it, Riley must have convinced Morgan to ask Garcia out." Emily realized.

"She's a meddler." Hotch laughed.

"Good thing she is. It looks like her interference made their night." Emily said, pointing out the two couples Riley made. "She's good fun."

"I took a day off in two weeks to see her dance in a competition." Hotch said happily.

"That's fantastic!"

"Yeah, Jack has a hockey game that morning too, so I'm seeing both." Hotch said.

"And I'm coming too." Emily said.

"If you want. I mean, if you don't really know what this is..." He laughed and she stepped on his foot.

"Am I ever going to live that down?" She asked.

"I don't know, that was mean."

"I said I was sorry." She pleaded.

"I know, I'm just bothering you." He laughed and Emily kicked him.

"What the hell?!" He yelped. Emily laughed hysterically. "That actually hurt!"

"Sorry!" She said, laughing even harder.

"Look at you, no remorse at all." He said, rubbing his knee.

"That's not true. I didn't point when I laughed." Emily said.

"That's not a sign of remorse, that's a sign of dumb ass." He said and Emily laughed.

"You love me." Emily said. Hotch became more serious.

"I do. With all of my heart."

"I love you too." She said.

"Move in with me." Hotch said. This was more of a command, less of a request.

"What?" She asked, caught off guard.

"You practically live with me already, can't we make it official?"

"Yes!" She said, jumping into his arms and kissing him.

"Not to ruin the moment." Riley said, cutting them off. "But Jack fell asleep at our table."

"We'd better go." Emily laughed.

"I'll get sleeping beauty." Hotch said. He quickly ran over to Jack, and they watched him pick Jack up.

"So, I take it I cut in at a bad time?" Riley asked.

"No. Your dad and I were just talking."

"You're going to move in?" Riley asked.

"You heard?" Emily asked.

"No. Common sense." Riley shrugged. "It's cool. I like you."

"Thanks Riley." Emily said with a smile. "You're a good kid."

"SHUSH! Don't tell anyone!" Riley said, sounding offended. Emily laughed and so did Riley.

"Alright, I won't, but we'd better go." Emily said.

"I guess we must, but before we do, take a look." She said, pointing to the dance floor.

"What?"

"Notice anything?" Riley asked. Emily looked over and watched Reid kiss Catherine.

"Wow. Good match making." Emily said. "You knew Reid needed a girl like her."

"What are you talking about? Oh! Reid and Catherine. Yeah, that was a good call."

"Wait, what were you talking about?" Emily asked, totally confused.

"I was referring to the fact that Morgan and Garcia left together about two minutes ago." She laughed.

"Oh!" Emily laughed. "Well, that was a long time coming."

"Figured." Riley said.

"Let's go before your father gets paranoid." Emily said.

"Right behind you." Riley said. They'd all had a great time. The night was amazing, but for some reason, Riley began to feel nauseous as they were leaving.

**A/N: Alright, I'm want to get you all involved again, so here's my new idea. I am going to do both the illness and the trip, but at different times. I want to know what kind of vacation would be better. I was either going to do a road trip to a specific (undecided at the moment) location, or a camping trip. Any suggestions are appreciated. Please Review :D**


	10. As Long As You're Mine

**This chapter is dedicated to "hxchick" "Sierra Clearwater" "boerwina" "McMackenzie" "Purplehonor" "Martine" and "nataliebianca"**

**A/N: I'm going to do a little bit of back story in this chapter instead of getting right into the illness. I never said how the relationship was established, so here it is. **

Much to his surprise, Hotch had a good time at the ball. It seemed as though being with Emily made things better, and having his kids with him was icing on the cake. They got hone earlier than they expected, but they were all pretty tired. Hotch and Emily chatted quietly while they got ready for bed. They lay in bed and Hotch pulled her into his arms. He fell asleep within minutes, dreaming of the day that their relationship began.

**

_The team had just finished an unbelievably hard case, and they all agreed that they needed to blow off some steam. Morgan suggested getting a few drinks and it didn't take much to convince the team to go. Once they arrived and had a few to drink, everyone was more relaxed. JJ was beating a bunch of guys at darts; guys who clearly had no idea that she was going to destroy them. Morgan was talking to a group of women, clearly in his element. Garcia watched enviously. Hotch and Rossi were talking about the case with Reid while Emily got all of them drinks. She returned and joined in on the conversation. Everyone was having a great time. Suddenly, a man tapped on Emily's shoulder._

_"Excuse me; can I buy you a drink?" He asked. Rossi and Reid continued chatting, but Hotch instantly stopped contributing to the conversation._

_"I don't know." She thought out loud._

_"Come on." He insisted. "It's one drink, what harm could it do?"_

_"I guess." She shrugged, and she followed him to the bar. _

_"Did you see _that_?" Hotch asked._

_"What?" Reid asked. Clearly, he was wrapped up in the conversation._

_"That guy. He just came over and offered Prentiss a drink!" Hotch said, sounding annoyed._

_"And?" Rossi asked._

_"You all know why guys buy girls drinks." Hotch said._

_"So what?" Rossi asked._

_"That guy was already hitting on other girls, now he's moved on to Prentiss. That doesn't bother anyone?" _

_"It doesn't bother Prentiss." Reid said, pointing out Emily to Hotch. She had left the bar with the man, and was now on the dance floor. Clearly, she was intoxicated, as she never danced. But there she was, dancing (very closely) with the random guy who got her a drink. Hotch couldn't believe his eyes._

_"She's been drinking; of course it doesn't bother her." Hotch reasoned._

_"Hotch, she's a big girl. I'm sure she can decide if the guy is a jerk." Rossi said._

_"Think about the case we _just _worked. Those girls were big girls, and they couldn't tell that the guy was a jerk!" Hotch snapped. Why didn't anyone else care? He wondered, but then again, why did he care so damn much?_

_"Yes, but he was drugging them." Reid pointed out._

_"What is the matter with you? JJ got offered a drink and she's over there with a bunch of guys. You didn't worry about her." Rossi said._

_"JJ's married." Hotch said, as if that explained everything._

_"Yes, because nothing happens to women once they're married." Rossi said, rolling his eyes._

_"It's just because-" Hotch began, but he stopped once he saw the guy pull Emily against his body, and whisper something in her ear. She laughed and nodded._

_"Because?" Rossi asked, but Hotch never finished his statement. He got up and walked over to Emily and the man._

_"Why is he so protective of her?" Reid asked, Rossi shrugged, but Rossi figured out exactly why Hotch was so protective of her. Leave it to Reid not to notice, Rossi thought to himself._

_"Excuse me." Hotch said, interrupting Emily's dance._

_"What?" She hissed._

_"Are you Emily?" Hotch asked._

_"What are you talking about?" She asked._

_"Well, your add on the internet said you were pretty, but wow! So, do I pay you upfront or later?" He asked. He had no idea why he was embarrassing her like that, but it was the first thing he thought of. He couldn't just tell her not to dance with him, he wasn't her father. The only way he could protect Emily was to make the guy leave._

_"_WHAT?!" _Emily yelled. The guy beside her looked just as shocked as Emily._

_"Oh, is this the wrong time? I was sure the appointment was for nine. I'm so sorry for cutting into your time. You shouldn't charge him for this time." Hotch advised._

_"Look, it was nice meeting you Emily. I've got to...go." He said, walking away very quickly._

_"WHAT THE HELL?!" She yelled at Hotch._

_"What? I was protecting you." He said innocently._

_"From what? The nice guy I was dancing with?"_

_"How can the case we worked not get to you?" He asked._

_"Don't turn this around on me. I was just dancing with him. And for the record, I'm not yours to protect!" She turned on her heels and went to the door._

_"I don't think you're going anywhere with out me." Hotch said. "I'm your DD, and you are in no conditions to drive."_

_"I-" Emily began, but she knew he was right. They had all chose who would be the DDs even before they got off the plane, and Hotch was to be Emily's. "Whatever. Just take me home then." _

_"My pleasure." He said mockingly, returning to the table he shared with Rossi and Reid._

_"Classy." Rossi whispered to Hotch, who pretended not to hear him. They walked in silence to the car, but as soon as Emily shut her door, she went off._

_"Who do you think you are?" She yelled._

_"Excuse me for looking out for you." He snapped._

_"Looking out for me? You were being POSESSIVE, and I'm not even yours to be possessive of."_

_"I was not being possessive." Hotch yelled._

_"Are you kidding? If you were a dog, you'd have peed all over me!" She yelled, and Hotch couldn't suppress his laughter. "That wasn't meant to be funny!" Emily cried._

_"Look, I didn't mean to be 'possessive' or whatever you think I was being. That guy was a dick Emily." He said, calming down. Emily noticed that he called her by her first name, and she was surprised._

_"How do you know? You didn't even know him!" She snapped._

_"I know guys like him. He only wanted one thing from you." He said. "And you were a bit too eager to give it to him."_

_"So, you ruined my night, and now you're calling me a slut?" She asked._

_"I'm not calling you a slut!" He said, shocked that she thought that. Thinking back, he didn't word what he wanted to say quite right. "No, I didn't mean it like that. I just meant that you accept guys like that too quickly. You deserve better than them."_

_"If I deserve better, why don't I have better?" Emily asked quietly._

_"You...I don't know why. Emily, you don't need to go home with drunken losers in a bar. You're too good for that. You're smart, pretty, funny, and strong. Any guy would be-" He stopped. Oh god, I've fallen for Prentiss, he thought to himself._

_"Really?" She asked hopefully. She looked into his eyes and he nodded. "Thanks for saying that."_

_"I'm not just saying it Emily." He said quietly. They pulled up in front of Emily's home and stopped._

_"I'm sorry I freaked out." Emily said._

_"You had every right, I crossed a line." He said._

_"Well," She began. "It was pretty funny. I never thought it would be you to say something like that." She laughed._

_"I have no idea why I said that." He said, laughing too. Suddenly, Emily swooped in and gave Hotch a kiss on the lips. He let it linger for a few minutes, but he broke it apart eventually._

_"What was that?" He asked._

_"I don't know. It seemed like a good idea." She said, blushing._

_"Oh." He said quietly. "Well, I agree." _

_"What?"_

_"Emily, I...well I...it's hard to say actually...I-" He tried to confess his feelings, but he couldn't get it out. As if she read his mind, she kissed him again._

_"Then don't say anything." She said, and she opened the car door._

_"Bye Emily." Hotch said._

_"Would you like to come in?" She asked with a wink. Hotch thought about a lot of things. The possible implications, how much of a bad idea this could be, he hadn't been with anyone since Haley... but without really taking his thoughts into account, he spoke._

_"Yes I would." Emily smiled and laughed as Hotch got out. She eagerly pulled him by the hand into her house._

_**_

_"Hey Hotch?" She asked later that night as they both lay in Emily's bed. Clothes thrown about the room, Emily wrapped in Hotch's arms._

_"After _that_," Hotch said. "I'm sure you can call me Aaron." Emily laughed._

_"Alright then. Hey Aaron?" She said. Calling him by his first name wasn't as weird as she thought it would be._

_"Yes Emily?" He asked._

_"I...Is it okay that..." She began, but this time, Hotch kissed her and cut her off._

_"Emily, I think I'm falling for you." He said._

_"Oh," She began. "Thank god that this isn't one sided." She laughed and after a few more minutes of chatting, she fell asleep._

_**_

Hotch awoke from the dream and smiled at Emily, who was still sleeping. He sat up and looked at the clock that said it was only 2 in the morning. He tried to go back to sleep, but he heard someone in the hall. He heard the bathroom door open, and began wondering if it was Riley or Jack. This question was quickly answered. Haley always joked that when Riley got sick, she was the loudest person ever when she threw up.

"Oh shit." He said out loud, and he ran to the bathroom to check on Riley.

**A/N Sorry about the little detour of the story. Anyways, in a few chapters I'm going to talk about Hotch finally seeing his kids do activities. Riley's is a dance competition, so clearly I need a list of songs. I am asking you for some, since I am so musically narrow-minded. In your review (please review :D ) include your favourite song, and I'll put it in :) Thanks for reading, and please review. **


	11. Sick Sick Sick

**This chapter is dedicated to "****Sierra Clearwater" "nataliebianca" "Ninja Bagel" and "alterangirl"  
**

"Ri?" Hotch said as he knocked on the bathroom door. He heard his daughter mumble something along the lines of an invitation into the bathroom. Once the door was open, Hotch was saddened by what he saw. Riley's skin was so pale it almost had a gray tinge. Her eyes were red around the rims and her cheeks were flushed. Riley's hair was up in a messy ponytail, but her bangs were clinging to her sweat drenched face.

"Hey." She whispered.

"Are you okay?" He asked. Hotch never really understood why people asked this. It was clear that Riley wasn't okay, but it was customary to ask if she was well.

"Oh, I've had better days." Riley said, the ghost of a smile on her cracked lips. Rolling his eyes at her remark, Hotch bent down to Riley's level.

"What can I get you?"

"I'd kill for a Gravol or something along those lines." Riley said hopefully.

"Of course." Hotch picked himself off the floor and he opened the medicine cupboard. After throwing various medications out of the cupboard, he realized that he did not have any medication that would help Riley.

"None?" Riley asked sadly.

"No, but I'll run to the drug store. The one down the street is open 24 hours."

"It's ironic. When we drove by it, I wondered who needed medication at 3am. Joke's on me." Riley said, waving her hands in the hair.

"You don't need to put on a show baby, you can just be sick." He said, patting her back.

"You're never sick." Riley sighed, gripping her knees in her arms.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Hotch said.

"Nothing really. That's just my excuse. I just hate feeling so vulnerable." She whined.

"There's nothing wrong with being sick." He assured her.

"Alright I guess. Hurry up and get me medicine. I'm going to barf again if you'll excuse me." Much to Riley's dismay, Hotch stayed in the bathroom while she was sick again. He rubbed her back, and when she finished, he kissed her head and left. Hotch went into his room as to not wake up Emily, but it was too late.

"What's going on?" She asked, in a sleepy voice.

"Riley's sick. JJ said that Henry just had that 24 hour bug, and Henry was with you guys when you were shopping right?" Hotch asked in one breath.

"Oh, she's got it too. How is she?" Emily asked, her voice full of concern.

"She's more worried about looking weak than anything else. Typical." He said with a faint smile.

"Well, we're out of Gravol."

"No kidding. That's why I'm getting dressed." Hotch said.

"No need to be sanppy!" Emily laughed.

"You shush. Can you mind the kids for a few minutes?"

"Of course I can." Emily nodded and Hotch finished getting dressed. He kissed Emily, then ran out of the room.

**

Jack had called for Hotch three before Emily heard him. At first he whispered slightly, then the volume of his voice grew. Just like any kid, the last call was a huge scream.

"Yeah Jackie?" She asked.

"I want my daddy." He whined.

"Your daddy's at the store. Can I do anything for you sweetie?" Emily asked, and as she finished, Jack follower Riley's suit. He threw up on his bedspread. Jack began to cry, begging Emily's forgiveness. She just smiled warmly and took the blankets off the bed as carefully as possible. She knew that Riley had set up camp in the bathroom on the floor they were currently on, so Emily took Jack downstairs and bathed him. Once she had put his blankets in the wash, put new ones on Jack's bed, put Jack to bed, and checked on Riley, Emily called Hotch.

"What is taking you so long?" She hissed into the phone.

"The one down the street isn't open 24 hours. I had to drive all over town to find a stupid drug store. I'm about to pay now." Hotch explained.

"Well, you'd better pick up some children's Gravol too." She said.

"No way." Hotch said.

"All over his bed."

"He must have been so embarrassed. I'm sorry you had to deal with that."

"No worries." Emily said. "He's fallen back to sleep. I just gave him a garbage pail and told him to call me if he needed me."

"And Riley?"

"Oh, she's alright. I checked on her a few seconds ago. She's sleeping on the bathroom floor, poor thing. She threw up again while I was bathing Jack."

"And he was only the once?" Hotch asked.

"No, he's been sick twice now." Emily recounted, remembering when she had to toss Jack out of the tub, over to the toilet.

"Jesus. Okay, I'll be home as soon as I can." Hotch said. "Thank you so much."

"It's cool. Just get back with the Gravol soon." Emily laughed quietly.

**

The rest of the night had been a long one. Hotch returned and gave the kids the medication. Jack took it well, but threw it up a few moments later. Riley took hers too, and she held it down for a while. None of the Hotchners, nor Emily got any sleep that night. Both children were running a fever, clearly suffering from whatever Henry was suffering from. By seven the next morning, Hotch had fallen asleep in the bathroom beside Riley, and Emily was on the foot of Jack's bed.

"Emmy?" Jack said, poking her in the arm to wake her up.

"Hmm?" Emily said groggily.

"I wanted to ask if we could put a movie on in the living room."

"Sure we can babycakes. You grab your pillow and blanket. I'll set you up out there. I'll get you some medicine."

"You're like my doctor Emmy." Jack squealed. She laughed.

"I guess I am."

"Well, I'm the patient. I think that hugs will work better than icky medicine." Jack concluded.

"You can have a hug." She said happily, embracing the little Hotchner in her arms. "But you still need medicine."

"Always a catch." Jack muttered and Emily burst out laughing while she helped him get set up on the couch.

**

"Daddy?" Riley whispered in her father's ear.

"You haven't called me daddy since you were 10." Hotch replied grogily with a small smile.

"Whatever. Hey Aaron?" She smirked.

"Never too sick for a joke are you?"

"Nope. I just wanted to tell you that I can here the TV. Jack's put a movie on."

"And?"

"I was going to tell you that I'm feeling a bit better, I'm going to go watch." Riley said.

"You want to watch one of Jack's movies?"

"I can hear it. He's watching Beauty and the Beast. Excuse me for liking the classics." She said with a smile.

"That was your favourite as a kid." Hotch pointed out, getting out of the makeshift bed he had on the bathroom floor. "If you're up to it, go wherever you want."

"Okay." She said. It sounded like she had more to say.

"Riley?" He asked.

"It's...nothing." Aaron looked at his daughter, and knew imeadiatly what she wanted. He also knew she was much too proud to ask for a hug. Without a word, he took her into his arms and held her tight. She looked up at him with her big eyes and smiled. "Thanks man."

"Anytime."

**

The rest of the day passed rather slowly. A highly uneventful Saturday. Neither of the kids were sick during the day, a clear sign that they were getting better. Emily had called JJ who said that whatever illness that Henry had was short lived too. Both of the kids ran a light fever, but other than that they were getting better.

"Hey, can you do me a favour?" Riley asked her dad. It was about nine that night and both Emily and Jack had fallen asleep.

"Anything Riley." He whispered. He rubbed her hair as she laid in bed; something she never let him do, even as a small child.

"Go in my closet?"

"Literally? Go in your closet?" He joked.

"Well, look who's a comedian for once in his life." Riley mumbled.

"I'm kidding." Hotch said with a smile.

"I realized. I just didn't know that you knew how." Riley laughed.

"It seems to make you happy. Anyways, go into your closet?" He asked, standing up. He opened the door and saw Riley's favourite guitar.

"Well?" She asked.

"I had no idea you even brought a guitar." He smiled.

"You have no idea what I'm capable of hiding from you." She smirked.

"You'd better be joking." He said sternly.

"You'll never know." She winked. Hotch rolled his eyes.

"I see _you're _feeling better."

"Stop changing the subject." Riley scolded, pointing to her guitar.

"Riley, I know you're feeling better, but I don't think you need to sit up and play guitar." Hotch said.

"But dad-" She began.

"Riley, no. I want you to get to sleep." He said, kissing her forehead.

"That's not what I meant." Riley said.

"What did you mean then?" Hotch asked, confused.

"Play me something." She said happily.

"What?" Hotch was totally surprised by Riley's request.

"You heard me. Play me a song."

"I haven't played in years." He said, making excuses.

"So? Don't forget who taught me to play guitar when I was Jack's age." Riley pointed out.

"Ri, I don't know any songs." He lied.

"You think you can lie to me? Dad, please? You haven't played in years. Maybe that's why you're so serious all the time. You never have any fun."

"I have fun." He said.

"Oh yeah, well then have some now." She said. Aaron knew that there was no way he'd win the argument with Riley. Even though he was an atourney at one point, he didn't have the ability to win a fight with his 15 year old daughter. He picked up her guitar and played a few chords. Within a few moments, he was playing out his favourite song to play, and Riley sang along.

**

"Emmy, do you here that?" Jack asked, shaking Emily awake.

"Yeah, it's music."

"Is it Sweet Caroline?" Jack asked. Emily listened and agreed that it was. Both Emily and Jack got up and went into Riley's room. Emily was surprised to see that it was Aaron who was playing the guitar.

"You play guitar?!" She asked, totally shocked. He nodded and apologized for not telling her.

"He teached Riley!" Jack explained.

"Well, you can make it up to me." Emily said with a warm smile.

"Oh? How can I do that?" Hotch asked.

"Play us another one."

**A/N: That's all for now! Please Review, and keep those song requests coming :D**


	12. Mama, I'm A Big Girl Now

**This chapter is dedicated to ****hxchick, LacytheDemonicDuck, Ninja Bagel, isabela tonks, nataliebianca & Sierra Clearwater **

******

The phone rang, and Emily groaned as she rolled out of bed. She staggered over to the phone.

"Hello?" mumbled Emily.

"Emily?" She heard a stern voice on the other line.

"Mother?" Emily asked, sounding rather surprised. The sound of her mother's voice instantly shook her awake.

"Yes. How are you?" She asked pleasantly.

"Uhm, fine thanks. Yourself?"

"I'm well."

"Who is that?" Hotch asked, rubbing his eyes as he sat up.

"Who was that?" Elizabeth asked her daughter.

"It's...the television?"

"Don't lie to me Emily Prentiss. You're a terrible liar." Emily rolled her eyes at her mother's tone. She scurried out of the room so Hotch wouldn't be interrupting the conversation.

"Does it mater?"

"Yes it does." Her mother snapped.

"Yes, I am seeing someone, okay? Happy now?" Emily said, rolling her eyes. Her mother made her do that a lot.

"Excellent. I'd like to see you both at dinner tonight."

"Dinner? When was this decided?" asked Emily.

"That's why I called. Now he may join us too." said her mother.

"But..." She began as she thought of her perfect excuse. "He has his kids for the last day tonight. They need to be back to their mother's by nine."

"He has children?" Elizabeth asked, surprised by this fact.

"Yes. Two."

"Are they decent children? You're staying there when he has his children?"

"Mother, I live with him." She sighed.

"You've moved in with a man, with children, and you did not tell me?"

"Why would I tell you? You're just going to criticize." Emily snapped.

"I was going to congratulate you." Elizabeth said quietly.

"Oh," Emily breathed.

"Yes."

"Anyways, they're better than decent. They're fantastic children."

"What are their names?" Elizabeth asked. Emily was totally shocked that her mother was taking interest in what had been going on in her life.

"The oldest one is Riley who's fifteen. Then there's Jack who's 6."

"You should bring them."

"To what?"

"Dinner Emily. Dinner."

"They just got over the flu!" Emily protested.

"Fresh air will do them good." Elizabeth argued.

"Mother, I think we're busy tonight." she lied.

"Didn't I already tell you that you're a terrible liar Emily? You're going to join me at dinner and you are to bring the man you live with and his children. We'll have a good time Emily, I promise." Elizabeth paused. "I miss you Emily."

"Mother..." Emily began to protest, but she couldn't find the words to say. Her mother would have a fit if she knew that she had moved in with Aaron Hotchner. For some reason though, she just couldn't say no. "I guess."

"Great. This shall be fun. I'll call you with the time and place after I make a reservation." said Elizabeth.

"Alright. Goodbye mother." Emily said.

"See you later Emily." Elizabeth concluded as she hung up the phone. Emily sat with the phone still on, unable to move. Telling the team was one thing. Hell, they'd even told Strauss the day of the ball and she didn't have a big issue with it, as long as they were professional at work. But her mother? That was a whole other story. She would accuse Emily of trying to sleep her way to the top. After all, her mother didn't think she'd make it in the BAU at all. She'd _love_ to here that Emily is with her boss; she'd call that the true reason Emily has her job. Emily regained a little bit of the composure she'd lost, and finally hung up the phone. She stumbled into her room and Hotch looked at her oddly.

"So, you going to tell who's got you so panicked?" He asked, his voice full of concern.

"My mother." Emily whispered.

"Oh. What happened?"

"She wants to have dinner-" She began, but Aaron cut her off.

"It won't be too bad. You may have a good time."

"-with you, the kids and I." Emily finished.

"Wait, what?" Aaron asked, shocked.

"Yes, with all of us."

"She knows you and I are seeing each other?" He asked.

"No, she knows that I am seeing someone with a teenager named Riley and a young son Jack." Emily said as she got back into the bed. "I didn't say you."

"Oh, well it doesn't mater now. She's going to know soon enough. You told her we'd be going?"

"Yes, I did. Sorry." Emily whispered.

"Emily, it's going to be fine. She just wants to see you." Hotch reasoned.

"She's going to blow her god damned top when she sees you. You are my _boss_ Aaron."

"Beautiful, just listen. It's going to be fine. It's going to be fun. I swear it." Hotch said, kissing her head. Emily smiled and lay down again.

"I'm going to try and get some more sleep. Who calls at seven thirty to make plans for dinner?" Emily wondered and Hotch laughed.

"We'll have a great time."

"And if we don't?" She asked gravely.

"Then we'll have a great time when we get back." Hotch winked, and Emily laughed. Within a few minutes, tiredness set in and she fell asleep.

**

When it was about noon, everyone began getting ready for the dinner. Emily was so stressed and everyone knew it, so they decided to show her that they cared just as much as she did. Jack did not complain when Hotch drew him a bath. He even stayed in as long as he could, claiming that he wanted to sparkle for Ambassador Prentiss. Jack grabbed Emily's blow-dryer, and had a lot of fun with that. Elizabeth had picked an overly fancy, black tie restaurant, so Jack got dressed up. This time, he picked his own tie and tried to do it up by himself. Though he was beyond unsuccessful, it was still cute that he tried. Riley avoided using any of the products that Emily used and tried to get ready in her room. Her plan was to just not get in Emily's way, and it worked. Hotch tried to help Jack get ready, and he got himself all set up. The reservations were for four thirty. By then, Jack was in a tiny suit with his brown hair combed flat; he had taken to spiking it up, but Hotch insisted on not. Riley had a red spring dress on and he brown hair was curled, as to avoid using Emily's flat iron. Emily had a little black dress on, and Hotch had one of his usual suits on.

At about four twenty five, they all went into the restaurant.

"Here we go." Emily sighed.

"Relax Emily." Aaron said, taking her hand in his. Jack took Emily's other hand and Riley patted her on the back and pushed her forward.

"Emily!" Her mother called and waved across the room. They approached the table slowly.

"Hello mother."

"Agent Hotchner?" She asked, and looked at Emily gravely. "Please tell me this is not the man you're seeing."

"It is." Emily said quietly.

"Oh, I get it." Elizabeth said. "Now I understand how you got your job."

"Mother." Emily began.

"I just never thought that you'd be slutty enough to sleep yourself to the top." Emily's cheeks reddened

"With all due respect-" Hotch began but Elizabeth cut him off.

"And I didn't picture you to be one of those men who slept with their subordinates." This time it was Hotch's cheeks that reddened.

"If she wanted to get to the top, she wouldn't sleep with my dad." Riley said suddenly.

"I beg your pardon?" Elizabeth asked.

"Well, think about it. My dad is the head of their team. He doesn't have too much influence high up. If she was interested in sleeping her way to the top, why wouldn't she pick someone who is at the top? My dad wouldn't get her anywhere. No offence anyone." Riley said, and everyone looked at her. Emily buried her face in her hands. To someone who didn't know her, they would have said she was embarrassed. Everyone who knew her well knew what she was really doing. Laughing. Inappropriate laughter.

Besides Emily's laughter, everyone was quiet. They knew she was right. Finally, Ambassador Prentiss spoke.

"I like her. Very outspoken."

"I try." Riley shrugged and sat down.

"Well, why don't we start over. I hope you can all forgive me for my terrible behavior." said Elizabeth. They agreed and sat down. Emily had liked Riley for a while now, but she found a new respect for her after that. She talked her mother down without being rude. Most of all, Riley had stood up for her. She could have stayed quiet and let Elizabeth accuse Emily of sleeping around, but she didn't. Riley must care for her.

The rest of the night went almost flawlessly. Jack's manors were better than anyone else's, which surprised Aaron since Jack was usually a slob. Riley didn't insult anyone and she listened to the conversations politely and gave her input when she could. Emily and Elizabeth spoke kindly to each other; it was plain to everyone that despite their constant bickering, they had missed each other. Plans were made for the next month, and the kids were returned to Haley by nine.

**

"That was actually not too bad." Emily sighed once they finally got home.

"I told you that you'd have a good time." Aaron said, kissing her head.

"You were right. For once." giggled Emily.

"Quiet you." He smiled.

"I can't believe that Riley stood up to my mother. She'd never even met her before."

"Sometimes she's a bit too extraverted for her own good."

"No, it was great. I'm glad she did it." Emily assured Hotch. "I sure wasn't going to defend myself, and she did it without blowing her top. I usually just scream at my mother and get it over with."

"I don't know what to tell you. She sure has come around since she first met you. But, it is hard not to love you." He laughed and kissed her.

"Speaking of which, I seem to remember you saying that we'd have some fun of our own once we got back." said Emily.

"You girls only one thing from us boys." Hotch joked.

"You know it." She said with a smile.

**A/N Kind of a fluffy chapter, but don't worry. It is leading up to something :) Please review!! :D **


	13. Thinking of You

**Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds.**

**This chapter is dedicated to ****nataliebianca, isabela tonks and Sierra Clearwater**

******

Hotch boarded the jet, feeling as though he was a bit in over his head. A man in Ohio was kidnapping, raping and torturing teenage girls. Young teens, especially those with dark hair. His head was wrapped around Riley as the team discussed possible profiles.

"Hotch?" Rossi said, snapping Hotch back to reality.

"Sorry. What were you saying?"

"Reid was just pointing out how sadistic the torture is. This unsub has keeps the girls for about a month before he dumps the bodies." Emily recapped.

"His signature is obviously how he kills them." Reid pointed out. The unsub had strangled the girls, then he beat them post mortem. Hotch shuddered as he looked at the pictures.

"So, four dead girls?" Rossi asked, sounding flustered. He thought the locals should have called a long time before.

"Yeah, Anastasia Gorla 16, Maisy Baker 14, Jessica Lyn 16, and Bronwyn Slate 15. All dumped in a forest close to where the girls were taken, all found a month after they were taken." Reid said.

"Now another girl is missing. Audrey Jacobs 15, she was taken as she walked home from a school dance at 9pm. Her school was literally one block from her house." Emily said.

"They waited until the fifth victim had been missing almost a month before calling us?" Hotch asked, noticing the date the most recent victim was kidnapped.

"The locals thought they had a handle on it." JJ explained.

"Apparently not." He snapped.

"Hotch, you okay?" Morgan asked after he noticed Hotch's reaction.

"I'm fine." He lied.

"Yeah, lie to profilers." Rossi said as he rolled his eyes. "That usually goes well."

"It's nothing okay?"

"It's Riley isn't it?" JJ asked. Hotch paused. He knew he needed to get his head into the case, but his thought kept going back to his daughter. Riley was the unsub's type, to a tee. If this unsub saw her, there was not a doubt in Hotch's mind what would happen. Apparently the rest of the team noticed the similarities. He cleared his throat before answering.

"Yeah. It's just kind of bothering me. I'll get over it." He shrugged. Emily looked at him, concerned. They had many cases with girls about Riley's age. He'd never acted like this before. Although, there was never an unsub that chose a type that matched Riley so well.

"Are you sure?" Rossi asked.

"I'm fine."

"Alright." Morgan said, though he knew that Hotch was lying. "Let's get on with the case." The team talked about the case for a little while longer, but Hotch wasn't really there. Sure, he contributed. He knew what they were saying, but all he could think about was calling his daughter to see if she was okay. Any teenage and child cases bothered Hotch, but this was one of the ones that really got to him. To his excitement, they all decided to stop talking about the case. Instead, they all began grilling Reid about Catherine.

"Forget it. No details for you." Reid teased.

"Come on. What's she like?" Morgan asked.

"She's great."

"Wow. That clears everything up." JJ rolled her eyes as she spoke.

"Alright, you want details? I like her. She's very intelligent. She's hilarious, beautiful, fun. It's crazy actually. I started one of my...episodes where I can't stop giving facts and I apologized but Catherine just asked me to tell her more." Reid laughed.

"Seriously?" Morgan asked.

"Yeah, weird eh?"

"Super weird." Morgan joked.

"Speaking of relationships..." JJ said as she nudged Morgan.

"Oh, ha-ha. Turn it around on me."

"What's dating Garcia like?" Emily asked.

"To be honest, it's amazing." Morgan laughed. "She's totally perfect for me. I just wonder why it took me so damn long to realize. Thank Riley for me."

"Yeah, thank her for me too." said Reid. The conversations continued, but it was Emily's time to be quiet. She too had noticed the similarities between the victims and Riley. She knew that Riley was safe, but Emily was worried about Aaron. Whether he would admit it or not, this case was getting to him. In that moment, she realized how alike Riley and Aaron really were. Both hated to look weak. Riley didn't want people to see her sick; Aaron didn't want people to see him worried.

**

They landed in Ohio and got right to work. Emily, Morgan and Rossi were going to the dumpsite where the first four bodies had been found, while the others went to get set up. They were there for less than an hour when JJ got a call.

"Guys, they found another body." She sighed.

"The girl that went missing a month ago?" Reid asked.

"Yeah, it's Audrey Jacobs." said JJ.

"Are Morgan, Rossi and Prentiss still at the crime scene?" Hotch asked.

"Yes, but we're closer to the scene."

"He changed dump sites?" Reid asked.

"He had to. There were four bodies dumped in that forest. There's no way he could get another body in there without anyone noticing it." Hotch said. They didn't waste a second. They got to the dump site, a schoolyard, as quickly as humanly possible, and when they got there, Hotch was in for a big surprise. He saw the body, and turned around. He tried to catch his breath, but what he saw shook him. JJ and Morgan were shocked too. Aaron eventually couldn't take it and he left the area. As he tried to leave, he ran into Emily, Derek and David.

"Hotch? What's wrong?" Emily asked, surprised that he left the scene.

"The dress." Hotch breathed.

"What?" Rossi asked.

"The unsub, he left her body in the clothes that she was abducted in."

"Yeah, he's done that every time." Morgan pointed out.

"She's in the dress that Riley wore to the Ball." He said quietly.

"No way." Morgan said.

"I just couldn't stay in there, it looked like..." He paused.

"Hotch, maybe you should sit this case out." Rossi said.

"No, I'll just go back to the locals. I want to help, I just can't be here." He sighed. The team members stared at their usually fearless leader. In all of his years at the BAU, he'd only ever been like this one other time. That was two years ago, when preschoolers that looked like Jack were going missing.

**

It had been three days. They'd closed the case after the unsub had taken his sixth victim. Luckily, she was still alive when they found her. Apparently, all of the girls went to the same school. They were all very into the dramatic arts. Their drama teacher was the man killing the girls.

Hotch had pulled it together, and was pleased when he was the one who got to catch the unsub. Through out the three days, he must have phoned his children one million times. When he asked if Riley was bothered by his constant calls, she laughed and said it was a welcome change.

"So, Jack's hockey game is tomorrow!" Hotch exclaimed excitedly when him and Emily got in the door. "And Riley's dance competition."

"How is that going to work?" Emily asked.

"We're going to Jack's game from 8-9:30 in the morning. Riley's competition starts at 8 in the morning too, so Haley's going to take her and we're going to meet her there. You know, dance competitions are long. It's all day tomorrow, then half of Sunday. You don't have to come you know, I'm sure you'll be bored." Hotch said.

"Aaron, I'm coming with you. I don't care if the competition is all day, I want to see. Oh, but I must warn you, I get overly excited at sporting events." said Emily.

"How excited?" Hotch inquired, but he let her blushing answer his question.

"I'm a bit...over the top. Loud." Emily explained.

"Good, that's what we need in out lives. More loud." He joked. Emily laughed, but watched Hotch's face fall.

"What?"

"Two of the victims from the last case were competitive dancers. Their parents won't get to see them dance again." He sighed.

"That case really bothered you."

"All teen girl and preschool boy cases really bother me. I'm just usually better at hiding it than that. Just seeing that girl who looked so much like Riley in her dress..." He said.

"It's okay that you broke down a bit." Emily said, rubbing his shoulders.

"I hate everyone seeing me like that." He confessed.

"I know."

"It makes me feel so...vulnerable. I need to be stronger next time." He said.

"Weren't you annoyed that Riley felt like that?" Emily asked.

"Who are you? Reid?" Hotch laughed but he thought of the truth in Emily's words. "You're right."

"I usually am." Emily shrugged. Hotch laughed even more, which resulted in a scowl from Emily.

"Alright, I'm getting some sleep." Hotch said, kissing Emily.

"Good night you big softy." Emily teased. Hotch smiled, rolled his eyes, and went to bed.

**Thanks for reading! Hope you liked it, and please review :D**


	14. The Good Old Hockey Game

**Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds.**

**This chapter is dedicated to nataliebianca and Sierra Clearwater**

**A/N: Sorry that the last chapter was so depressing. It will make sense in the future.**

******

It was early. Far too early for Emily's liking. Sure, she had to get up for work all the time. That doesn't mean that she has to _like _it. The clock said that it was ten minutes to six, and she had to be up. Of course she knew why she needed to be awake. She and Aaron both had to get ready, and drive over an hour to get to Haley's. Then they had to get to the rink in time for Jack to get ready, and practice with his team.

"You know that you don't have to come right?" Hotch said for the hundredth time. It's not that he didn't want Emily's company. He really did, but she just looked so tired. He hated seeing her so tired.

"Shut up." She said with a small smirk. It took all the will-power Emily had, but she finally threw herself out of bed.

"I'm so excited." Hotch said sounding almost giddy. He was standing on in the doorway of the bathroom, flossing his teeth.

"I can tell." Emily laughed. "It's nice to see you like this."

"Well, I'm sick of being a deadbeat." He sighed.

"Stop saying that."

"Riley's been dancing forever, and I've seen her once or twice at the most. I've never seen Jack play, and it's been two years." Emily didn't really know what to say. She'd told him many, _many_ times that he was not a deadbeat dad, but there was no reasoning with Hotch. Once something was in his mind, there it was. His children were just like him in that way.

"I'd tell you that you were wrong, but you know the old saying. You can't argue with a Hotchner." Emily said, using her joke to try and avoid the awkward conversation that she and Aaron had so many times before.

"That's an old saying?" He laughed.

"No, but it's true. I could try and convince you that you're not a deadbeat, but it wouldn't work. I couldn't convince you that the sky was blue if you thought it was red today." Emily said, elbowing him in the ribs.

"Harhar. You're a regular Jim Carrey. We've got to go soon." Hotch said, looking at the large clock that hung on his wall. The clock was hideous. Hotch hated it with a passion, but Emily adored it. She was a good profiler, but she bought the clock almost a week ago, and still thought he loved it.

"You're right. Now, stop standing in the doorway. I need in there too, plus it pisses me off when you do that." Emily joked, wrapping her arms around Hotch, and kissing him. During their embrace, Emily had been spinning gently, and Hotch realized that she was literally spinning out of the bathroom.

"Are you kidding?" He laughed.

"What?! You're hogging the bathroom! If we're late for your son's hockey game because you wouldn't let me pee, it's YOUR fault!" Emily cried dramatically, and in return, Hotch laughed unbelievably hard.

Despite Emily's worries, they were not late for Jack's game. Actually, they were the second people at the rink, only preceded by the coach and his daughter.

"Jack, is this a co-ed hockey team?" Hotch asked, disappointed that he didn't know the slightest thing about his son's favourite pastime.

"No!" Jack snapped.

"Jack," Emily began, giggling slightly. "Does your team have boys and girls on it?"

"Yeah." he shrugged. "But is NOT co-ed." Emily buried her face in her hands, trying not to embarrass Jack.

"Sweetie, that's what co-ed means." Hotch said.

"Oh. I thought that it meant...well I didn't know what it meant, but it didn't sound nice." Aaron smiled at his son as he took his hand. Jack led his father to the boy's locker room while Emily went to the concession stand for coffees. The whole coffee idea went to crap when Emily realized that they had hot chocolate with whipped cream. In her books, that beat coffee any day. She bought two and went into the stands to wait for Aaron. After a while, he showed up. Emily handed him his cup and he laughed.

"Where the hell is my coffee?" He said with a smile.

"This is better anyways." She shrugged. Secretly, he agreed with her.

"They're going to have to skip practicing. The coach said that majority of the other team showed up late, and they want the game to still start at eight." Hotch explained and Emily nodded. After a few minutes of idle chatter, the ice was covered in small children, many who were having a hard time balancing.

"Which one is Jack?" Emily asked. She knew that Jack's team was red and black; he wasn't on the green and white team. But the helmets made it impossible to pick out who was who by their faces.

"Number fourteen." Aaron said, pointing out one of the only children who could stand up. "They have names on the back of the jerseys Emily." It was true. HOTCHNER was emblazoned in big white letters on Jack's back.

"Oh shush. It didn't occur to me to look at his back to find his identity." Emily hissed. Suddenly, the ref skated onto the ice and dropped the puck. A few of the kids fell over trying to skate to the puck, but one kid on Jack's team got there. HATTON was written on this child's back, and Hotch actually knew who that was. Jack's "girlfriend" was Angelina Hatton, and Hotch knew that she played hockey because Jack told him 100 times. He just never mentioned that they were on the same team.

"YEAH JACK!" Emily hollered out of the blue. Parents looked at her, but she didn't react. The game continued for a few minutes before a boy on the other team deliberately tripped Jack with his stick. This resulted in a penalty for the other team.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?! CHILDREN'S HOCKEY OR CHILDREN'S ULTIMATE FIGHTING! KILL HIM JACK! KILL HIM!" Emily screamed and Hotch stared at her. "I warned you."

"You sure did." He laughed. Apparently Prentiss did get overly involved in sports games. Luckily, Jack wasn't hurt at all, and as soon as he got up, he took the puck back and scored the first goal of the game.

"THAT'S RIGHT! JACK! WOOOHHOOO!" Hotch cheered too, but he had nothing on Emily. The game continued well. Jack scored another goal, which got another eruption of excitement from Emily. Angelina got a goal too, and when Aaron explained who it was, Emily cheered again. One other kid on Jack's team scored, and Emily cheered louder than anyone.

It wasn't just the good events that had Emily screaming. Oh no, she was absolutely psychotic when something bad for Jack's team happened. The other team got a goal, and Hotch thought that Emily was going to kill him. The kid that hit Jack went back to hit him again, and Emily went ballistic. In the end, it was Jack who got a penalty this time because in retaliation, he punched him in the gut. Emily cheered for that too.

The game ended with a score of 4-1. When it was over, Hotch went into the locker room to get Jack ready to go to Riley's dance competition. Many parents glared at Emily, but it really didn't bother her. Their opinions of how she expressed herself were meaningless. In her own loud, obnoxious way, she was supporting Jack. That was all that mattered to her.

"Emmy!" Said Jack as he ran out of the locker room and jumped into Emily's arms.

"Hey Jack! That was awesome!"

"I winned! I winned!" He cheered.

"But what did we discuss?" Hotch asked in his most serious tone. Jack looked down at his feet.

"No punching people in the stomach," Jack said, quietly adding, "even if they are big fat meanies like Alexander Rich." Emily snickered and Aaron rolled his eyes.

"I don't think I said exactly that."

"Leave it to you to kill the spirit." Emily joked.

"And you miss!" Hotch said, turning to Emily with a goofy smile on his face. "I don't think I can ever take you to another children's sporting event!"

"I heard you cheering for me Emmy. I was glad." Jack said, with the exact same goofy smile that his father wore.

"Alright, but I did warn you."

"You did indeed. Next time, I will pay more attention to your warnings. We'd better get going though." Hotch said, looking at his watch.

"Yeah, we gotta see Riley shake her groove thing." Jack said, in a serious tone, making both Aaron and Emily laugh.

**Alright, that's all for now! Please, please review :D I really want to know what you thought, good or bad. Thanks for reading!!**


	15. Tiny Dancer

**Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds.**

**This chapter is dedicated to: isabela tonks, Purplehonor, nataliebianca, Rolfy, Everleigh, and LacytheDemonicDuck**

**A/N: I just want to thank everyone who's read this story, and those who continue reading and reviewing it. I really appreciate it :) Anyways, on with the show!**

******

Hotch, Emily and Jack found their seats in the crowded auditorium. Apparently they'd be sitting with Haley. Jack eagerly took a seat between his mother and father, while Emily sat to the left of Aaron.

"So what's going on?" Hotch wondered.

"They're taking a break right now." Haley explained. "It goes in hourly intervals. You guys only missed some group dances. Riley's solos, duets and such are all after 1."

"So we missed..." Emily said, flipping open her program. "Her group contemporary which was to "Wild Horses" by Natasha Bedingfield, group ballet which was to some classical song that I don't know, and group tap which was to This is Your Life" by Switchfoot. We'll see group hip-hop, acro, musical theatre and jazz before the next intermission."

"I love acro!" Jack squeaked. "The flippies are so cool!"

"Just a warning about the hip-hop..." Haley began.

"A warning? Is it bad? Have you seen it?" Hotch asked.

"Yes, I've seen it. I just want you to remember not to jump to conclusions." Haley said and the lights dimmed.

"What are you...?" Aaron began, but the lights dimmed. Riley's hip-hop was the next dance. The music began, and Hotch immediately jumped to conclusions. "Right Round" by Flo Rida blared from the speakers. The dancers began strutting on stage is tiny shorts and small tank tops, and Hotch could feel his mouth hit the floor. One other dancer came on in jeans that were far too big, and a wife beater. This dancer wore sunglasses and too much "bling." It was clear that the dancers were supposed to be his "hoes." Suddenly, Hotch felt Emily tap his arm.

"Aaron!" She laughed. "The one that's dressed like a guy. That's Riley!" Hotch looked up, and once the dancer removed the glasses, he found out that Emily was right. It was not a boy, it was indeed Riley. She fooled everyone. Hotch laughed too. Haley looked over at him and winked.

The dance continued, and Hotch couldn't believe how good Riley was. Aaron couldn't dance to save his life...neither could Haley for that matter. Apparently dance wasn't exactly a 'genetic trait.' No matter how she got the skills, it was clear that she had them. Her teacher was right. She outshined everyone on the stage.

The dance ended with a great response from the audience. Aaron thanked god when Emily clapped nicely, and didn't scream. After a few dances by dancers from other dance schools, Riley's group was coming on again. This time, it was Riley's group acrobatics dance.

This time, "Jump" by Van Halen came on. Hotch assumed that this might have been Riley's idea. This time, she was dressed in the same costume as the other dancers. They all had different coloured bodysuits that were artfully torn, and fishnet tights. They all had denim jackets over the bodysuits, and their hair was teased into giant messes. Obviously, they were going for the hair band look. The dance began, and Hotch was in awe. His daughter was doing moves that made him scared that she'd fall and _die! _She didn't care though, in fact, she made it look effortless.

"Damn." Emily breathed. "I can't even imagine having such talent." Hotch laughed quietly, knowing that as a child, Emily wanted to take dance lessons, but she never did. Her mother thought that it was pointless.

Riley's dances continued, and every one was a good, or better than the one before. The musical theatre (to "La Vie Bohem" from RENT) was comical, and her jazz (which ended up being more of a bollywood dance) was fantastic. The lights came on, and everyone got up and stretched.

"This intermission is really long." Haley said. Hotch looked at his watch, and he saw that it was noon. They'd been watching dances for almost three hours and he hadn't realized it.

"I'm hungry." Jack whined as he tugged on his father's arm.

"I was planning on taking Riley out for some food, do you guys want to join us?" Haley offered. Hotch thought it may be awkward but Emily answered for him.

"Yes please! Thank GOD! I was close to eating my own arm during that last dance." They laughed and went to the lobby to meet Riley. She exited the dressing room with her hair in a slick bun, track pants and a sweater.

"You looked cuter in the Van Halen number." Haley teased and Riley gave her mom a high five. "Way to kick everyone's asses!"

"Thanks mom." Riley laughed.

"You did great." Emily said and Jack agreed. She thanked them both, and looked at her father.

"What did you think?" She asked.

"Riley-" began Hotch, but he didn't really know what to say. He was so sorry that he'd missed seeing her perform, he couldn't believe how amazing she was, he couldn't understand where she got her skills. There was so much he wanted to say, but he just took Riley in his arms and embraced her. Now it was Riley's turn to be surprised. Hotch was a good father as far as she was concerned, and she hated that he didn't think he was. Their hug was full of a lot of unspoken feelings; so many that Riley felt her eyes well up. Haley and Emily both noticed, and they said that they were going to go wait in their cars. Riley let go of her father.

"Thank you for coming." She said quietly, and he brushed away the one tear that fell down her cheek.

"Any, _any _time. Honey, I'm sorry-"

"It's okay." She interrupted him and hugged him again. Aaron was so relieved that she didn't hold it against him. In that moment, he was so happy.

"You were amazing." He said, twirling her out of the hug and taking her hand.

"Thank you dad." Riley said with a smile. "I've gotta stop crying. I'll look like a cheap prostitute." Hotch sighed and rolled his eyes.

"What is with you and serious moments?" He asked.

"I don't know, it's like a sickness." Riley shrugged.

"I know." He laughed. "You're like your uncle." Riley's mouth dropped open in pretend shock.

"Take it back!" She cried.

"Never!" He shot back. Riley threw a soft punch that landed on his left arm. She ran at him again, but he stuck his foot out, making her trip and lose her balance. She didn't fall down, but Aaron laughed so hard people thought she did.

"What is this? You know how to play?" Riley laughed. Hotch joined in her laughter, and when he turned around to go to the car, she aimed a high kick in between his shoulders.

"It disturbs be how high you can kick." He said in his serious tone. Riley stopped to re-evaluate the situation. She assumed that he was done joking around when he pulled her into a headlock. Riley began laughing so hard, she began coughing.

"What do you know." She said through he coughing and laughter. "You do know how to play." Riley grabbed his hand, and led him to the car.

**

Sunday night came too quickly for Hotch. He could have watched Riley dance for days. Her solos and duets went as well as her group dances. She placed in the top three in almost every category she entered, which meant she'd be advancing to different levels.

"I'm so glad we saw Riley dance, and Jack play." Emily said as she got into pajamas.

"Yeah, me too. I'm going to go more often. Whenever I can." He resolved.

"That's good. They were really happy you came you know."

"Yeah." Hotch said with a smile. "Thank you for coming."

"Any time. You know I love your kids." Emily said.

"Well, I thank you for that too." He said, kissing Emily.

**That's all for now! Please, please review :D**


	16. Changes

**This chapter is dedicated to: ****hxchick, Sierra Clearwater, Rolfy and nataliebianca. **

******

Riley was staying with Aaron and Emily for the night. Just Riley. Eric had got tickets for him and Jack to see a hockey game that night, and Haley said that it was okay for Riley to stay. So, after work that Friday, Hotch and Emily went and picked up Riley.

"Bonjour." said Riley as she slid into the car.

"Comment ca va?" Emily asked.

"The extent of my French knowledge would be bonjour. I have no idea what you just said." Riley said seriously and both Hotch and Emily laughed. "Why? Why laugh when I'm being serious?"

"Just the way you word things is funny. It sounds too mature for a teenager. When I was young-" Hotch began only to have Riley cut him off.

"Back in 1890." Riley said in the same voice that Reid used to state a fact. Emily snickered.

"-I wouldn't have said something like that."

"Because you don't speak French." Riley pointed out.

"You're missing the point!"

"No, I think she's purposely avoiding the point. Being cynical." Emily said, raising one eyebrow.

"Oh shucks, how did you figure that one out Sherlock?" Riley said, rolling her eyes.

"No need to be mouthy." said Hotch.

"Okay."

"So," Emily began, knowing that the subject of Riley's sarcasm would just lead somewhere bad. "What exactly do you want to do?"

"You know. Do a little dance. Make a little love." Riley paused. "Pretty much get down tonight."

"Sometimes I don't know about you." Hotch said, shaking his head.

"Oh come on! That was funny!" Riley laughed.

"Yeah, you know that something's funny when the person who made the joke is the only one laughing." Emily pointed out. Riley thought about this for a moment.

"Touché."

"Seriously." Hotch said. "What do you want to do?"

"I don't really know. Can we rent a movie or something?" asked Riley.

"I don't see why not. Emily, you up for a movie?"

"Always." She said with a smile.

**

Hotch learned something that day. Trying to rent a movie with a teenager, (who practically lives at the movie theatre) is one of the most difficult tasks. Add to that the fact that she wants comedy and Emily wants a tear jerker. He himself wanted an action movie with a thin plot line but lots of special effects. Although, he just kept his mouth shut. There was no way in hell that he was going to win. It wasn't a "fight" but they were at the movie store for twenty five minutes and were no closer to picking a movie than they were when they were in the car.

"_My Sister's Keeper_?" Emily suggested, holding up the movie case.

"Bleck. No thanks. _Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back_?" asked Riley.

"You'd better not have seen that movie!" Hotch said hopefully. He thought that movie was far too inappropriate for Riley.

"I...Oh whatever. I'm not going to lie over that." Riley said and Hotch rolled his eyes.

"Why would you want to see it again? That movie blows." Emily teased.

"YOU blow!" Riley shot back, making both Emily and Hotch stare at her. "Okay, I just heard that how you two heard that and I think you both know that I didn't mean it like that." She muttered.

"Either way, we've been here forever. Pick a movie please." Hotch said testily.

"Emily only likes crap."

"Riley only likes crap!"

"I feel like I'm here with two teenagers." Hotch said rubbing his temple.

"She started it." Emily whispered.

"Okay, here's the deal. If you don't agree on a movie in the next two minutes, I'm going to pick. And you can bet there will be NO comedy and NO romance." Both Riley and Emily had a look of terror on their faces when Hotch said he'd be the one picking the movie. The both booked over to the other side of the store, and sure enough, before Aaron could count to 10, they'd picked a movie.

"Why couldn't you have done that right when we walked in?" whined Hotch.

"Oh, quiet you big baby." Emily said.

"What did you get?"

Riley was hesitant. Her father would not be a fan. "Thesoundofmusic."

"What? You need to not talk so quick."

"_The Sound Of Music_." Riley said, over pronouncing each letter.

"You're joking." He sighed.

"Nope. It's my favourite movie of all time." Riley said.

"Actually, it's mine too." Emily agreed. Hotch groaned, but he'd take anything if it meant that they got to get out of there. They paid, returned to the car, and Hotch was treated to a concert of selections from _'The Sound Of Music.'_ Treated may not have been the word thought. They sung so loudly and off key (which was intentional, because he knew for a fact that they were both good singers.) that he wanted to pull out his gun and kill himself there and then. Hotch was never so happy to get home.

**

They had all decided to get their pajamas on and put the movie on while they waited on the pizza they ordered. Hotch was ready before Emily, so he went to see if Riley was ready. He knocked on the door and she called that she was decent. Aaron walked into her room, and noticed something on Riley's dresser.

"What the hell is this?" He said, holding up the small pack of pills.

"Drugs?" Riley said, joking around. It was clear that her father knew what it was, or he wouldn't have reacted the way he did.

"Riley Ann Hotchner, why do you have birth control?" He boomed, so loudly that Emily came into the room to see what was wrong.

"Not for the reason YOU think!" She snapped.

"Oh really?"

"Yeah really."

"Aaron, why don't you hear her out?" Emily asked quietly.

"What? Why do I need to hear her out? I know what birth control is. I know what it does." He snapped.

"No, you don't." Riley snapped.

"You think I'm stupid?" He yelled.

"NO! I think you're jumping to conclusions!" Emily yelled over him. "There are many more uses than what it is supposed to be used for."

"Yeah!" Riley agreed.

"Oh really?"

"Yes!" Riley yelled.

"Then why do you have it?" He asked, curious as to the reason she had it.

"Well..." Riley blushed, and because of the blush, Emily figured out why.

"Oh god Aaron. She has bad periods. Way to make her feel badly about that." Emily scoffed. Hotch's face turned as red as Riley's.

"Oops." He said. "Sorry Ri."

"It's alright. You hear birth control, and you think I'm trying to avoid a pregnancy. It's an obvious conclusion to draw."

"So you don't use it for...I mean you..." He tried.

"No dad. I'm not trying to avoid a pregnancy. In fact, it would be physically impossible for me to be pregnant. If you get what I'm saying." Riley laughed.

"I'm really sorry Riley." Hotch said.

"It's okay. We all over react sometimes." She said with a smile.

"Just the idea that you were..." He couldn't finish his sentence.

"You're dad's just a teeny bit over protective of you." Emily said with a smile. "You should have seen him when we were on that case with the young brunette teens that were being killed. He was so scared that the unsub would just grab you, even though you were nowhere near where he was, and-"

"Thank you Emily." he sighed.

"I'm glad you're over protective. You just need to trust me." Riley shrugged.

"I do. Very much. So, what do you say that we start that crap that you rented for us?" He joked, and both Riley and Emily acted insulted.

**

The movie was playing. Riley was enjoying every second, and though he tried to hide it, so was Aaron. Emily though, was not. The whole birth control episode had shaken Emily a bit. Not because of Riley. She didn't care that Riley was on birth control, hell, if she'd had it when she was Riley's age it would have saved her from getting an abortion. But, another thought was taking over Emily. With all the talk about periods and birth control, she realized something. She was late...and her and Aaron had stopped using a secondary method of pregnancy prevention. Now that she thought about it, she _had_ been feeling crappy lately.

"Oh, I was supposed to go over to JJ's to help her out tonight!" Emily said. She needed some excuse to get out of there.

"You're going over to JJ's at 9 at night?" Hotch asked.

"To help her with what?" Riley asked.

"You Hotchner's and your third degrees." She laughed nervously. "I helping her...pick out an outfit to wear out with Will for their anniversary." It was true that she promised she'd help JJ do this, but she didn't say that day.

"Okay." Hotch said. He though she was lying through her teeth, but he wasn't going to call her on it.

"Okay, bye." She said, slamming the front door as she ran out after slipping her shoes on.

"Does it strike you as odd that she's going to "JJ's" in her pj's?" Riley said, and Hotch agreed. He had no idea where Emily was going.

**

"JJ?" Emily said into her phone.

"Emily. What's wrong?" She may not be a profiler, but she could tell that something was up.

"Where are you?"

"At home. Garcia and I are watching movies. Why? I thought you were hanging out with Hotch and Riley tonight." JJ said.

"I need you." She whispered.

"Emily, what the hell is going on?"

"I'm in the bathroom at the drugstore JJ." Emily said. She could feel tears welling up in her eyes.

"What? Emily, you're starting to scare me, what's going on?" JJ asked, and she could hear Garcia over the phone. Apparently Garcia was worried too.

"JJ..." She paused. "JJ I'm pregnant."

**A/N: So Hotch learns about Riley, and that leads Emily to learn about herself. A bit of a twist there. Anyways, please review :D**


	17. You Can't Always Get What You Want

**This chapter is dedicated to: nataliebianca, hot4cullenmen, NCIS-fan-cecy, Everleigh, EastAngels2009, Rolfy and isabela tonks.**

******

Emily had sped all the way to JJ's house, sobbing as she drove. She was terrified that she was going to get pulled over, but that didn't matter to her. A ticket was the least of her worries. When she finally arived at JJ's, Garcia opened the door, and Emily threw herself into her arms. She was muttering inaudable things into Garcia's chest as she sobbed.

"Shh, it's going to be okay Emily." Garcia whispered while she rubbed her hair.

"I don't know what I'm going to do." She said through her tears. JJ embraced her too and attempted to comfort her, then the three girls all went and sat down in the living room. JJ went into the kitchen and got her and Garcia each a glass of wine, but she got Emily a glass of water as per her request. Emily dried her eyes on the sleeve of the sweater she was wearing, and Garcia handed her a box of tissues in order to salvage the sweater, because Garcia thought it was cute.

"I thought you wanted children?" JJ asked. "Maybe you're focusing on the bad side of things."

"I do. I do want children, but not like this again. I thought that the next time I got pregnant I'd be married. I'd have been with the guy for more than a few months." She sighed, wiping her eyes.

"You can't always get what you want." JJ pointed out.

"But if you try sometimes, well, you just might find you get what you need." Garcia sang, then got glares from the other girls. "So this was not a good time to sing a Rolling Stones song?"

"No, not the best time." Emily said with a small smile.

"What brought this on? I mean, what makes you think to go take a pregnancy test at nine at night?" Garcia asked. Emily began reciting the events of the night from the very beginning. She told them about picking up Riley, going to the movie store, planning the night, finding the birth control, and the realization that she may be pregnant.

"Wait, Hotch's daughter's on birth control?" JJ asked.

"Yeah, but not because she's having sex. From what I can gather she's a virgin." Emily explained.

"Really?" Garcia asked.

"She's fifteen Pen." JJ pointed out.

"Oh. Whenever I talk to her, I think she was so much older than fifteen. You're right, she's too young for that." Emily blushed deeply when Garcia said this.

"I was fifteen." Penelope covered her mouth, forgetting about Emily's past.

"Apparently I can fit my whole foot right in my mouth. Sorry Em."

"No, you're right. Fifteen is much too young." Emily agreed.

"I was seventeen." JJ said. "Not something I want to remember."

"Eighteen." Garcia said.

"I guess I've always made bad choices when it comes to men and sex." Emily sighed.

"Don't beat yourself up over the past." said Penelope.

"Well, it's not really the past that I'm worrying about right now. I'm a bit too worried about the fact that I'm carrying Hotch's baby. Do you have any idea how scary this is?" Emily asked.

"No," JJ said cynically. "Nobody here understands what it's like to have a child out of wedlock."

"Hey look, my foot fits in my mouth too." Emily said, a smile growing on tear streaked face.

"What are you going to do?" Penelope asked.

"I don't know. I don't know why I let this happen."

"Are you going to abort it?" JJ asked.

"Not again. I can't go through that again. And I'm not giving it up." Emily said indignantly.

"You're keeping it then. Have you talked to the boss man?" Penelope asked.

"No, I did the tests at the drugstore." She said, her cheeks turning a bright crimson.

"Tests? You just sat in the drugstore bathroom and peed? How many tests did you take?" JJ laughed.

"Seven."

"You took _seven _pregnancy tests in a drugstore bathroom?" Garcia repeated.

"Yes. I felt like Juno." laughed Emily.

"Did you get some strange looks or what?"

"A few, I was still in my pajamas. I think the clerk thought I was a junky or something. She offered to pay for the seventh test." said Emily.

"You're kidding!" laughed JJ.

"Sadly, I'm not. And I wish I'd accepted it! Those things are expensive." Emily laughed.

"Why didn't you just wait and see a doctor?" Garcia asked.

"Trust me, when you think you may be pregnant, all you can think of is babies. You need to know. Speaking of need to know..." JJ said, raising her eyebrows. They all knew she was referring to Aaron.

"You think I should tell him?"

"No, I think you should keep it from him. It's not like he sees you every day." JJ said, rolling her eyes.

"JJ's right. He'll never catch on."

"Thanks guys. It's not that easy though. How exactly do I phrase it? Oh hey Aaron. How are things? That's good, mine are pretty good too. Oh, by the way, apparently we should have been using a bit more protection when we were doing it because I'm pregnant now." Emily said jokingly.

"Well, I'm sure you can phrase it a bit better than that." JJ laughed.

"You call him Aaron?" Garcia asked. They all began laughing at Penelope's stupid question. It was the exact tension breaker that they needed. JJ knew exactly what Emily was talking about. It was not easy to tell someone you'd only been seeing for a few months that you were going to have his baby. Garcia didn't exactly 'know' what it felt like, but it was easy enough to imagine. If she got pregnant now...she didn't have any idea what Morgan would do. They both did know that Aaron Hotchner was a good man, and that he'd stick by Emily. Not just for the baby either, he really loved her.

"I just feel like a horrible person." Emily said, gripping her knees in her arms.

"Why?" They both asked her.

"Riley and Jack. They never get to see Aaron as it is. Now, here I am, adding another kid to the mix." she sighed.

"In all fairness, I'm sure you didn't get yourself pregnant. The blame is to be shared." Garcia said.

"True, but still. He's just getting closer to them. It's like I am steeling him away from them." Emily said, tears filling her eyes again.

"Emily, listen to me. You need to get it together. You are NOT steeling Hotch from his kids. Yes, they're getting closer and that will continue. Now, he'll get to have another kid to get close to. Look, you have one of the few decent guys left in the world so you go back and tell him that you're knocked up." Garcia said sternly.

"She is right you know." JJ nodded.

"I know. I just don't know how to tell him."

"You could always smack him and curse him for knocking you up?" Penelope suggested.

"And why would I do that?" she laughed.

"Start some drama? It might be funny, but you must do that when I'm around."" Penelope joked.

"Don't plan anything." JJ said, ignoring Penelope's previous comments. "You'll end up just blurting it out anyways."

"I guess you're right." She sighed.

"You'd better get home. It's almost midnight. He'll be worried." Penelope said.

"Mhm, unless you need to stay the night? You're more than welcome to if you don't think you can face him tonight." JJ said.

"No, I need to do this." Emily said. On that, she left JJ's house and got into her car. She pulled on her seatbelt and couldn't help but think that in a few months, she'll have to yank the seatbelt out over a huge baby bump. Emily couldn't but help but crack a small smile. Sure, inside she wanted to cry again. She actually wanted to bawl her eyes out. But she was excited to have the baby. There were only a few things that made Emily want to cry, but they were big considerations. First of all, she was terrified. She didn't know if her past could complicate the pregnancy. If this baby was hurt, and it was her fault, she'd lose it. Second, she couldn't help but think that she was taking Riley and Jack's father away from them. And third, (and most of all) she was just plain scared. She was beyond scared.

She pushed open the front door, hoping that both Aaron and Riley were asleep. To her dismay, Aaron was sitting on the couch, waiting for her.

"Well?" He asked.

"Well?" She asked back.

"Riley's asleep."

"That's good." She nodded.

"Yes, because we need to talk." He said.

"What about?" She asked, beginning to get scared.

"Emily, you zip out of here at 9, and you don't get back until after one. I know for a fact that you didn't go to JJ's at 9." Hotch said.

"You do?" She asked, and she swallowed loudly.

"Yes, I called her."

"You called her? You were checking up on me?" Emily asked. She could feel her anger rising. Aaron could sense it too.

"Oh, you're mad at me? I'm not the one who lied, I told you I called." It was true.

"I'm sorry. I'm really tired, can we do this in the morning?" Emily asked.

"Do you want to break up?" Hotch asked suddenly.

"Wait? What?" She asked.

"Are you seeing someone else Emily?"

"No! Aaron, I'm not seeing anyone else. I swear."

"Then where were you tonight Emily?" He asked.

"I was...When you called JJ's house I wasn't there yet. I did go there, I promise. You have to believe me." She begged.

"I do, but Emily please tell me. Where were you?" He asked.

"Before..." She said, but she paused. Emily took a deep breath.

"Emily, are you okay?" He asked.

"Before I went to JJ's, I was at the drugstore. For a long time." She said quietly.

"At the drugstore?" Aaron asked.

"Yeah." She whispered. "The thing with Riley...I thought I was...I just...I'm sorry." Emily grabbed Hotch and sobbed into his chest. He thought about what she tried to say. The thing with Riley. He didn't know what she meant.

"The thing with Riley? Why are you sorry?"

"The birth control thing." Emily sobbed. "Aaron, I'm sorry." Hotch finally drew his conclusion then.

"Emily...are you?" He was having a very hard time getting it out. This wasn't exactly an easy thing to ask the woman that you'd only been seeing for just about five months. Hotch thought about what Emily might say, and he knew what he would do. Hell, he'd do anything for Emily, but he needed to know.

"I-" She started.

"Are you pregnant Emily?" She paused and attempted to gather her composure.

"Yeah."

**A/N: My dear readers, I thank you so much for reading this and reviewing :D You are all wonderful people and I thank you all! :D**


	18. Hit Me With Your Best Shot

**Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds and it makes me sad :(**

**This chapter is dedicated to: isabela ****tonks, Rolfy, hot4cullenmen, NCIS-fan-cecy, and jazmingirl.**

******

He hadn't said a word in five minutes. Granted, it was after one in the morning, and she'd just delivered life changing news but she thought there'd be a bit of a reaction. Really, all he did was sit on the couch. She followed him and sat beside him. Emily looked into Aaron's eyes hoping to gage his mood, and from what she could tell, he was feeling the same way she was.

"Pregnant?" He finally asked.

"Yeah." She nodded.

"You were just out taking tests and talking to JJ and Penelope?" Aaron asked. "You weren't with someone else?"

"God no, why would you think that?" She asked.

"You just disappeared late at night. I couldn't help but think of the possibilities."

"Aaron, I love you. I would never cheat on you." Emily sighed, taking hold of his hand in hers.

"I love you too Emily. Sorry I thought you sere seeing someone else." Hotch said, holding Emily in his arms. "Guess I'm jumping to conclusions too much tonight."

Emily had to laugh in agreement. "I'm sorry Aaron."

"It's okay. We can do this Em." He said, running his fingers through her long hair.

"I'm sorry." She said again.

"Emily-" Hotch began.

"I'm so sorry."

Aaron took in a sharp breath. "Would you stop saying that? For god's sake Emily, why are you apologizing?"

"What?" Emily was confused. She didn't know why Hotch was so frustrated with her.

"Emily, this is not your fault. If anything, it's my fault!" He snapped.

"Your fault? How is that?"

"I am the one who convinced you we didn't need a second method of contraception." He sighed.

"I didn't exactly argue." She blushed.

"Yeah, but it was my idea. And I am the one who got you pregnant." Aaron sighed.

"Again, I didn't exactly ask you to stop." Emily laughed.

"Emily," He said, again trying to place the blame on himself.

"Jesus Aaron, didn't you just get pissed at me for trying to take the blame? I consented to the sex too you know." She snapped. He nodded and agreed to stop placing the blame on himself. After all, it didn't change anything.

"Maybe...maybe neither of us are to blame?"

"Maybe both of us are to blame." Emily concluded. He kissed her head and agreed with her. They sat in silence for a few moments, but it wasn't an awkward silence. It was more like they were both just letting the news sink in. She was just happy to be in his arms. Emily always felt right when she was safely snuggled up to Hotch.

"You are keeping it right?" He asked.

"Yeah, I want to." She nodded.

Hotch smiled, and his smile made Emily smile. "Good."

"Really? You're okay with our accident baby?"

"Yes, I'm fine with our accident baby." He laughed.

"You're not just staying with me because of the baby?" She asked.

"Prentiss, you're not getting rid of me that easily. I love you too much to leave." He said, kissing her.

"Thank god." She said, tears filling her eyes. "I love you too Aaron."

"So, we're really going to have a baby." Hotch said, sounding very excited.

"Yeah, our very own baby!" She exclaimed and Aaron picked her up. He twirled her around and they both laughed quietly, as not to wake up Riley.

"So, are we keeping this under wraps for a while?" He asked.

"Nah, they'll figure it out soon enough, plus we'll have to deal with Strauss." She concluded.

"Yeah, better sooner than later." He nodded. "What about your mother?"

"What about her?" Emily asked, and then she realized something. "Aaron, are you scared of my mother?"

Hotch paused, knowing that no mater what he said, he'd sound a bit pathetic. She took his silence to be his answer.

"You're kidding!" Emily laughed.

"She is very intimidating!" He reasoned. "Elizabeth Prentiss wouldn't think twice about killing me once she finds out about me knocking you up."

"Did you just say 'knocking you up'?" Hotch blushed and they both laughed.

"Truthfully, I'm more worried about telling your children than my mother. I feel awful; like I'm taking their father away from them." Emily sighed.

"Nonsense. You can't take me away from my kids, and neither can this baby. You don't need to feel bad about that. But I do agree with you. Riley's not going to be too happy."

"You get to tell her. I'll tell Jack." Emily said happily.

"Why do you get the easy one?" He pouted.

"Fine, you can tell them both." She laughed.

"Or we can tell them both, that way if Riley kills one of us, there'll be a witness?" Hotch asked.

"Deal."

"Oh god Emily. Our own baby!" Hotch exclaimed.

"Yeah," Emily said, a giant smile engulfing her face. "Our own baby!"

**

Hotch and Emily finally got to bed at about two, so they slept in the next morning. Riley slept late too, which was bonus, though Hotch knew that she wouldn't wake him and Emily unless their was an emergency. They decided they'd tell Riley about the baby like they'd rip off a Band-Aid. They'd take her out for breakfast (she tended to not make huge scenes in public) and tell her then. At eleven that morning, they were all in the car driving for food.

"So I guess we'd call this brunch, not breakfast?" Emily said.

"Call it what you will, it doesn't matter too much to me. All I know is that I'm hungry." Riley shrugged.

"When we get to the restaurant, we need to talk." Hotch said, and Emily glared at him. He knew they planned to bring it up later, but they were almost there.

"Whatever it is, I swear I didn't do it." She said defensively. Hotch and Emily laughed, so Riley believed she was off the hook for whatever they were talking about.

"No, it's not something you did Ri." Emily said.

"Oh good. Whenever mom says we need to talk, I'm in some trouble for something or other." Riley explained.

"I always associate 'we need to talk' with break ups." Emily said randomly.

"That too, but I was pretty sure that you guys weren't planning on dumping me, so I assumed trouble."

"You know, I've never been told 'we need to talk' when someone was breaking up with me." Aaron said.

"Yes, because you've only ever dated two women. One of whom you're still seeing." Riley pointed out.

"True enough." He laughed.

"I couldn't count how many times I've heard that phrase." Emily sighed and Hotch took her hand to comfort her.

"I've never heard it in that context. It's very difficult to be broken up with if you've never dated anyone."

"You've never dated anyone?" Emily asked, very surprised.

"Nah, I've got a bit of a reputation." Riley shrugged.

"What is this rep miss?" Hotch asked.

"I'm everyone's friend." Riley said. "Honestly, I like that rep better than the other reputations I could have."

"So you're okay with the fact that you've never been on a date?" Emily asked.

"Why wouldn't I be? I'm only fifteen; I have my whole life ahead of me." Both Hotch and Emily were stunned by this response. Riley was a teenager, things like this were supposed to bug her, yet she seemed immune to teenage problems.

"That's mature." Emily said.

"I guess. Truthfully, I just thought of what my dad would say." Riley said.

"Really?" Hotch said happily. "You're listening to what I'd say?"

"Don't let it go to your head! It's just that you're pretty smart and I could totally picture you saying things like that to me." Riley laughed.

"Well, maybe I'm not such a bad dad after all." He said.

"You kidding? I couldn't ask for a better dad." She said honestly. Hotch paused and smiled widely.

"Thanks Ri."

"Any time man." She said.

**

Their food finally arrived when Hotch looked at Emily as if to ask her permission to tell Riley about the pregnancy. She nodded curtly.

"So, remember when I said we need to talk?" He asked his daughter.

"Yes...?" Riley said, almost making it into a question.

"Well-" Emily began.

"I think it's time we did." Hotch concluded.

"Alrightie." She said with a smile.

"Well, we just don't know how you'll feel about this news." Emily said.

"Why? Is it bad?"

"We don't think so." Hotch said with a soft smile.

"Okay. Hit me with your best shot." Riley sang.

"This is kind of serious." He said.

"Is somebody dying?"

"Why would we say it wasn't bad news if someone was dying?" Emily laughed.

"I have no idea. To mess with me? Why are you avoiding this? Can you just tell me please?" Riley asked. She was getting rather frustrated with her father and Emily. She didn't understand why one would bring up the fact that they needed to talk, then try and avoid the conversation. She was more of an outright person.

"Okay." Emily said. "I'm going to let your dad take this one, and I'll take the next one." Hotch glared at her, but she shrugged.

"Okay, what is it?"

"Riley, Emily's pregnant." Hotch said quietly. Riley's eyes grew wide, and she looked at her food. It was clear that she didn't know how to react.

"Pregnant?" Riley asked, wanting to be sure she heard right. Although, she couldn't think of what she may have mistook it for.

"Yeah. It's mine." Hotch said.

"Oh really? I thought it was Reid's. Good to know." Riley said, rolling her eyes. Emily snickered.

"I thought we agreed to be serious?" Hotch said.

"No, you said that conversation was serious. You didn't say, 'Riley, you must take this seriously.' Nope." She said.

"Riley, you know exactly what I meant." Hotch said. She shrugged and started munching on her toast.

"So?" Emily asked.

"So...I think I need to go to the ladies room." Riley said, excusing herself from the table. She walked away and Hotch looked at Emily.

"Well, I think that went well." He said sarcastically.

"She didn't throw anything at us, that's a good sign."

"This isn't funny!" Hotch said, even though he was laughing.

"She's dealing with it the best way she can." Emily said.

"Riley's not dealing with it. She's making jokes and avoiding it." Hotch snapped.

"Aaron, that's how she deals with things. She makes a joke and tries to fluff it off. That's the best she can Aaron, we've just got to give her time." Emily explained. Hotch knew that Emily was right. They went back to their food, and Riley returned. She sat down, and neither Hotch or Emily brought up the baby. They'd let her on her own time.

"Congratulations." She said finally.

"What?" Hotch asked.

"I said congratulations." Riley said. "As long as we still get to see you, I'm happy."

"Of course you're going to still see me!" Aaron protested.

"Okay, I was just worried. Your work and a baby might prove to be a full plate." She reasoned.

"Riley, come hell or high water, I will see you. I love you, and I'm sorry I've let work take priority when I shouldn't have." Riley smiled.

"Well, you'll need me around if you have a baby you know."

"We will." Emily agreed.

"Someone's got to teach her things." Riley said, raising her eyebrows.

"No! You're not 'teaching.' Last time you said you'd teach something, Jack learned about a million practical jokes!" Aaron laughed.

"If I didn't teach him, who would have?" Riley protested.

"No one, hopefully."

"So, you're okay with this?" Emily asked.

"Actually, I'm more than okay. I'm pretty excited. How far are you?"

"I don't know actually. I've only done the drug store tests. I've made a doctor's appointment for Tuesday though. Do you want me to call you and tell you?" Emily asked.

"Yes please." Riley smiled.

"I have to say, you're taking this better than I thought." Hotch said.

"Well, I was a bit pissed at first-" She began.

"Don't say pissed." Hotch corrected.

"-but then I thought about it. I'm quite sure that you didn't plan it as you've only been seeing each other for...well, not that long. I can't be mad at that. Things happen. But, soon you'll have your very own Riley Jr!" Riley laughed.

"Well, I'm glad you're okay with this." Aaron said happily.

"Truthfully, you'll have more issues with Jack." Riley pointed out.

"Why?" Emily asked.

"Jack's recently been asking where babies come from. I guess Emily will be explaining?" Riley asked.

"What?! Why?!" She asked.

"You said if my dad took this one, you'd take the next one." Riley reminded her. She paused and remembered her words.

"Oh shush." She laughed.

**A/N Alright my wonderful readers, that is all for now! Please tell me what you thought!**


	19. I Should Tell You

**Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds…*tears***

**This chapter is dedicated to: ****jazmingirl, Megz-and-Tori, NCIS-fan-cecy, isabela tonks, Rolfy and nataliebianca**

**A/N: I have toyed with Hotch's and Emily's ages for the sake of the story. Please don't hate me beautiful readers. So, for the sake of the fic, Hotch is 35 and Emily is 32. Sorry about the change, but it's needed.**

******

The drive home was full of laughter and song, which surprised Hotch. He expected Riley to totally lose it. Maybe he had to give his daughter more credit. She was a bit mouthy and she faced problems with jokes, which was not normal for him, but she was good.

"We're here." Hotch said, pulling up in front of Haley's house.

"Are you going to come in and tell Jack?" Riley asked.

"Actually, Jack is staying with us tonight. I called your mom and she gave it a thumbs up." Hotch explained.

"So I get to spend Sunday with mom?" She asked, sounding frightened.

"What's wrong with spending Sundays with your mom?" Emily asked.

"She makes me go to church." Riley shuddered.

"Oh, you and church. I talked to your mother about this. She said you haven't been in weeks." Hotch said, rolling his eyes.

"Boo." Riley said, swinging the door open. Hotch and Emily joined her at Haley's door, as they had to wait for Jack.

"Hey." Haley said, motioning for them to all come in. "Jack will be ready soon. He decided he'd pack his own bag for the night, and he thought that underwear was not a necessity." Emily and Riley laughed and Hotch smiled.

"It's alright. We don't have any other plans."

"So, why do you want Jack tonight?" Haley asked suddenly.

"Actually," Hotch began. "We kind of need to talk to him about something."

"Oh?" Haley asked.

"Emily's knocked up." Riley said. Hotch was worried that Emily didn't want Haley to know yet, but she was smiling at what Riley said. Haley looked over at Riley.

"Don't say knocked up Ri, it sounds bad."

"Sorry, Miss Prentiss is with child." Riley said sarcastically. Haley rolled her eyes and motioned for Riley to go away. She kissed Hotch on the cheek and went upstairs.

"You're pregnant?" Haley asked.

"Yeah." Emily said happily.

"Wow, big step." Haley said.

"Well it wasn't like they planned it or anything." Riley yelled down the stairs.

"Go away you nerd." Haley yelled.

"You gonna make me mama?" Riley laughed.

"Yes." Haley growled. After the drastic change in Haley's tone, they heard Riley's footsteps increase in speed. Before she darted away, Hotch was sure he heard her say, 'oh shit!' but he couldn't be sure. Haley laughed. "You sure you want another one like that?"

"I don't think the Earth could handle another one like that." Hotch pointed out. "She's pissed about church though."

"This isn't my first rodeo, cowboy. I know how she is at church." Haley laughed. "She's missed enough church for a lifetime."

"I hated going when I was her age." Emily said.

"Yeah, it's normal for kids her age." Haley agreed. "Anyways, congrats on the baby! You must be so excited."

"It was a...surprise, that's for sure." Emily laughed.

"Well, that can be just as good. Trust me." Haley said. Emily looked at her strangely. She knew that her and Hotch had been together since high school. Did they have an accident baby?

"Riley." Hotch pointed out, noticing Emily's confused looks.

"Wha-?"

"Emily, do the math. I'm 35, Riley's 15. What 20 year old decides to have a baby?" Aaron laughed.

"Well, that makes sense." Emily said, laughing at the fact that she hadn't realized.

"Yeah, my dad's used to whoops babies. Maybe next time he should wear a-" Riley began shouting down the stairs but Haley cut her off.

"RILEY! So help me God, I'm going to make you help at Sunday school if you don't shut up." Haley threatened.

"Good Catholic mom. Use the lord's name in vain why don't you?" Riley mumbled.

"Sorry." Haley said.

"I think she's funny." Emily admitted.

"Me too." Haley agreed. "But she has a habit of going too far, so I have to stop her before she starts."

"I'M READY." Jack yelled down the stairs.

"Alright buddy, we're waiting for you." Hotch yelled. Jack hurried down the stairs and flung himself into his father's arms. Once he was satisfied with his father's embrace, he jumped into Emily's arms.

"Well, it's been a slice." Haley said. "See you tomorrow Jack."

"Bye Mommy!" Jack said, tugging on his father's sleeve.

"Bye baby."

**

"So Jack," Hotch began once they were in the car. "Emily and I have some big news."

"We're getting a puppy?" Jack asked hopefully.

"No." Hotch laughed. "We're not getting a puppy."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm pretty sure that's not the news Jack." Emily said.

"Oh."

"I think it's better than a puppy." Hotch said.

"A WII?" Jack yelled.

"No Jack, it's not a Wii."

"But I think we should get a Wii Dad. We need a Wii." Jack pleaded.

"Maybe for your birthday Jack." Emily said, knowing that if he wasn't given a 'maybe,' he wouldn't drop it.

"Yay!"

"Jack, can we talk about the big news please?" Hotch begged.

"Yes, you're the one talking about puppies and Wiis! Sheesh!" Jack said, and Hotch rolled his eyes.

"Jack, Emily's going to have a baby." He said.

"Tomorrow?"

"No honey, it'll be a while." Emily explained.

"Do they have to deliver it to our house?"

"Jack, the baby's in Emily's belly right now." Hotch said. He prayed that would be a good enough explanation. Emily knew it wouldn't be. Jack was six, and six year olds loved their questions.

"She ATE it?" Jack was thoroughly discussed. Hotch sighed while Emily giggled into her hands. She was tempted to just agree with it to annoy Aaron, but she figured that this was not the time.

"No Jack. Emily did not eat the baby. That's where the baby grows."

"My friend Benny's mom had a baby this one time. She growed SO fat! Like this!" Jack gestured to his stomach and stretched his arms out as far as they went. "Emmy's not gonna get fat like that right?"

"Actually I am." She laughed.

"Weird! How'd it get in there?" Jack wondered. Hotch groaned. This was the exact question that he wanted to avoid.

"Well..." He began. Aaron had no idea where to lead this conversation.

"My friend Mark said his parents maked a baby with sex. Is that how Emmy's baby got made? What's sex? Wait, how does it get OUT of her belly?" Jack asked. Hotch wanted to meet this Mark kid, and ask him why he knew what sex was. Emily was no help at all. She couldn't regain composure at all. As soon as Jack said sex, she was gone.

"Uhm...how does Mark know that?"

"His big sister Erica told him. She's nine. Mark says she know everything. I think Riley knows more than Erica." Jack said.

"Jack, how do you think the baby got in my belly?" Emily wondered.

"I don't know. I guess you and daddy put it there?" Jack thought.

"You're right." Hotch said. Emily had just saved the day.

"Oh! Okay! But how does it get out?"

"How do you think Jack?" Emily asked.

"The doctors get it out I think. Mommy has pictures in the hopspital with me when I was a baby."

"Hos-pital." Hotch corrected.

"But you're right. The doctors get the baby out." Emily said, winking at Aaron. They'd just dogged a major bullet.

"What's sex then?" Hotch paused.

"What do you think it is?" He tried to follow Emily's tactic.

"I don't know. You should tell me." Jack urged.

"It..it's. When a man...when..." Hotch tried to explain. Emily tried too, but she was having as hard a time as Aaron.

"You don't know either!" Jack snapped. "Mom said the same thing when I asked. I'll just have to ask aunty Jessica. She knows lots of stuff."

"Yes, I think you should ask Aunt Jessica. She'll know." Hotch laughed.

**

"Ambassador Prentiss." Elizabeth said into the phone. Emily had called to tell her the news, but apparently she was expecting a work call. That was the only time she answered her phone and said her title right away.

"Hello Mother." Emily said politely.

"Hello Emily, what a nice surprise. I am expecting a call soon, so can we make this quick?"

"Yes we can actually. I just wanted to-" She paused. Her and Hotch had decided that they'd make plans to have dinner, and they'd tell her then. Emily though about it, and Aaron was out buying pizza with Jack, and since he was 'scared' of her mother, she'd just tell her now.

"What is it Emily?"

"I'm pregnant." The other end of the line was silent for a lengthy amount of time.

"By your boss?" Her mother asked.

"Yes." Apparently her mother still had her way of making Emily feel bad about everything.

"Oh. Well, from what I can tell, Aaron Hotchner is a decent man."

"He is." Emily agreed.

"Are you keeping it?" She asked.

"Yes I am." Elizabeth paused for a few seconds.

"Do you love him?"

"Head over heals." She admitted.

"Then I couldn't be happier for you!" It didn't take a profiler to tell that the excitement was genuine.

"I can't believe you're okay with this." Emily said.

"But I am! We should have dinner together and talk about it! Tell Aaron to bring his children, they're delightful. Oh, your baby's going to be so spoiled. I can't believe I'm going to be a grandmother." Elizabeth said.

"Have I dialed the wrong number?"

"Oh Emily. We've had rough times, but I do love you."

"Yeah. I love you too." Emily said, meaning every word she said. After a few more moments of chatting, Emily hung up the phone. The boys returned with the pizza, and Emily couldn't help but giggle, remembering how intimidated Aaron was by her mother, who'd apparently had a change of heart. Everything was coming up roses for Emily...finally.

**A/N: That's all for now! Pleas tell me what you thought :D**


	20. With a Little Help From My Friends

**Disclaimer: *sigh***

**This chapter is dedicated to: isabela tonks, hxchick, Rolfy, nataliebianca****, NCIS-fan-cecy and Megz-and-Tori.**

******

Emily walked into the office with Hotch walking behind her. It was Monday morning and they planned to tell the rest of the team about the pregnancy. Emily had already informed Strauss, who clearly wasn't happy. It didn't matter to Emily because she got to keep her job. She was told to 'take it easy' in the field, but she put too much thought into that. Morgan was the one who tackled the unsubs anyways.

The night with Jack went quite well. Him and Aaron stayed up late watching hockey. Apparently Jack was becoming an avid fan, not just a young player. He could name most of the players on his favourite teams, and he could recite most of their statistics. Emily mostly read that night. She wasn't exactly a hockey fan, at least, she didn't like it if it wasn't live. When they returned to Haley's later that night, Riley whined about church and Jack made fun of her because he didn't have to go.

So, that day, they walked into the office happy as can be. Garcia and JJ, who hadn't talked to Emily since the night they found out about the baby, were both glad to see that she was okay. Better than that, she was happy.

"If you smiled any bigger, your face is going to break in half." JJ whispered in Emily's ear as she walked to her desk. Emily giggled, and put her bags down. She watched Hotch go up to his office. Apparently she wasn't just watching, she was staring.

"You're eyes haven't left Hotch the entire time." Morgan pointed out.

"They're in love!" Garcia quipped. She was sitting on his desk, avoiding her work.

"I wasn't saying anything bad." Morgan said defensively. "I don't ever want to take my eyes off my baby girl." Garcia laughed.

"I'm going to make coffee, anyone want anything?" Emily asked.

"Nah, we've all been here for a while. I think Reid's in there though." Derek said. Emily nodded and walked over to the coffee machine. Sure enough, Reid was making coffee, and adding six pounds of sugar.

"Late night?" She asked, and to her surprise, Reid blushed deeply.

"Not...no, not especially." He lied.

"Why do we always think that we can lie to each other?" Emily asked subtly.

"Okay, yes it was a late night. Happy?" He asked.

"No need to be snappy doctor." Emily laughed.

"Sorry, I just hate talking about my personal life." He laughed. Emily finally drew her conclusion.

"You spent the night with Catherine, didn't you?" She asked coyly. Reid turned the reddest colour she'd ever seen. Emily gasped and smiled.

"Please, don't tell anyone. Morgan would just have a field day." He said, rolling his eyes. Emily knew this was true.

"So, if you're not going to let me gossip, are you going to at least give me some details?" She said, raising her eyebrows. Reid smiled.

"It was...amazing. Catherine is just perfect."

"I'm so glad."

"Yeah, she's kind of bringing out a new side of me. I took her out dancing this weekend, and I actually danced!" He exclaimed. Reid blushed when he realized how loud he was, but Emily patted him on the shoulder, letting him know that his volume was fine.

"That's great Reid, I'm so happy for you." Emily said. Aaron and her had decided to tell everyone who didn't know about the pregnancy at the same time, but Emily changed her mind. Reid was generally the last to know about everything that happened to the team members. After he'd just confided in her, she figured she'd do the same.

"So, what's new with you Prentiss?" he asked.

"Actually, a lot." She said.

"Do I have to badger you for information, or are you easer to get information out of than me?" He said, smiling at her.

"I'm pregnant." Reid's mouth hung open a bit; he was clearly surprised.

"With a baby?" He asked. Emily laughed.

"Yes Spencer. With a baby." He couldn't believe he actually asked that question, and he couldn't believe that she used his first name.

"Yeah, sorry about that. Stupid question. Congrats Emily. That's so exciting."

"Hotch and I were going to tell the team at the end of the day, but I figured I'd tell you now."

"Who knows already?"

"You, JJ and Pen. Aaron of course, and we did have to tell Strauss." Emily listed.

"Guess I'm not the last to know this time?" He laughed.

"Nope. Morgan and Rossi are." They both smiled at each other, then Reid took Emily in his arms and embarrassed her.

"Congratulations."

"Thanks." Emily said, the smile she had been wearing throughout the whole morning got a bit bigger.

The day was long, and uneventful. No plane rides, no unsubs. Just paperwork. By the afternoon, Emily was very sick of waiting to tell everyone about the pregnancy. When Rossi and Hotch left their offices for lunch, Emily asked that everyone to join her for lunch. She exclaimed that she had huge news, and even though Hotch was a bit surprised by Emily's sudden announcement, he didn't protest. So, they all drove to a local restaurant. It was quite small; no one was in the place accept for the team. A young waitress took their orders, and returned very quickly with drinks.

"Alright!" Emily exclaimed. "My news." She looked at Hotch, and he nodded. She wasn't looking for his approval to continue, but she thought it would be nice to let him think that she was.

"Okay," said Rossi. "Inform us."

"Most of you already know, but for those of you who don't, I'm pregnant." Morgan choked on his drink, and Rossi's eyes nearly popped out of his head.

"Pregnant?" Rossi repeated.

"Yup." She said happily.

"You're having _Hotch's_ baby?" Morgan asked.

"She is." Hotch agreed.

"Ew." Morgan said with a small smile. The rest of the team laughed, but Hotch was a bit offended.

"What do you mean 'ew'?" Hotch asked.

"He means she saw you...naked." JJ said with a shudder and again, the team couldn't help but laugh. Neither could Hotch for that matter.

"What's he like?" Garcia said, her eyes widening. This time, Hotch choked on his drink.

"Can we not?" He pleaded.

"I won't." Emily said.

"Fine, be that way." Garcia laughed.

"I really can't believe that you're having a baby." Rossi said.

"You think _you_ were surprised." Emily murmured.

"Have you thought of any names?" Reid asked, finally contributing to the conversation.

"I've known I was pregnant for like, ten minutes. I don't even know how far along I am."

"You haven't seen a doctor yet?" Spencer's voice was full of concern.

"I'm going tomorrow. It's okay Reid." Emily laughed.

"Spencer's like that with pregnant woman. He even gave me a new fact about Henry's development every week." JJ laughed.

"Will you do that for me?" Emily asked.

"You want me to?"

"Yes!" Emily squeaked.

"Of course I will." Reid said, reaching across the table and patting Emily's hand.

"Well, I think that I speak for all of us when I say, congratulations Hotch and Emily." Morgan said.

"I propose a toast!" Garcia said loudly. She lifted her glass and everyone else followed her lead. "To Emily Prentiss and Aaron Hotchner. May they have a beautiful baby, and may Emily choose to gossip about Hotch in bed eventually." She raised her glass higher, and took a drink.

"I hope that if she does choose to gossip about Hotch in bed, that I'm not there." Morgan shuddered.

"I second that." Rossi said.

"Third." Reid agreed.

"I hope for my sake, she doesn't tell you anything." Hotch laughed.

"He jokes now?" Rossi asked.

"Yeah, weird right?" Emily laughed. Hotch laughed too. It was true. He was actually joking. He was smiling, laughing and loving his life. And the more that he thought about it, the more he realized that he had a million reasons to love his life. A wonderful girlfriend, two beyond fantastic children, an awesome job with a fabulous team and a baby on the way. Life was amazing.

**

The day was over. The rest of lunch went well, and was full of fun. They had a great time. When Hotch and Emily returned home, Emily was still thinking about what Reid said.

"Hey Aaron?" She said as she slipped a nightgown on. Hotch laid in the bed, reading a book.

"Yeah?"

"What names did you like when Haley had Riley and Jack?" She asked.

"Why?"

"I just wondered. I don't have any idea what kinds of names you like."

"Okay, well if Riley was a guy I wanted to name her Evan." Hotch said.

"Evan Hotchner. That's cute." Emily agreed.

"I thought so. Haley liked Kyle. We were torn. We didn't find out her sex before she was born. Haley and I decided that if she was a girl, we'd name her Samantha." Hotch said.

"Samantha?" Emily asked. "Where did Riley come from?"

"I don't really know. When she was born, we just looked at her and knew she wasn't a Samantha. I don't know if that makes sense, but she wasn't. Haley suggested Riley, and it just fit." He said.

"Yeah, it suits her. She wouldn't be a Samantha. What about Jack?" Emily wondered.

"Well, we both liked Jack. We did find out his sex, but early on, I liked Carley. Haley liked Megan." Hotch said. Emily was a bit surprised. Hotch had some good taste, at least, in her opinion. She hesitated about asking what he liked for their baby, because she thought it might be weird. She'd only known about the pregnancy for a while and she was already focusing on names? She thought Hotch might think she was weird.

"What about our baby?" She asked, throwing all worries into the wind.

"I haven't really thought too much about names. Truth be told, I've been thinking about you." Hotch said.

"Me?"

"Yeah, you in the field. But, there are a few names I like." He said.

"Really? I thought you'd think I was crazy for already thinking of names." Emily said.

"Oh Emily, that's not why I think you're crazy. There are _many _other reasons that I think you're crazy." Hotch laughed. Emily laid down beside him and punched him in the arm.

"Whatever you ass. So, what names do you like?" She asked.

"I still like Carley. Amelia too." He said. "For a boy, I like Jesse and Evan."

"I thought you hadn't thought about it?" She laughed.

"Okay, so I thought about it a little. Shush. What about you?"

"I don't really know. Carmen is cute. I like Calvin for a boy." Emily said.

"Those are cute." He said, kissing Emily on the head.

"They're okay." Emily said. "I don't know. Say we pick a name, and it sucks?"

"Then we pick a new one." Hotch shrugged.

"JJ called about a case before." Emily remembered.

"Yeah, the team is leaving tomorrow at nine." Hotch said. "I said I wouldn't go."

"No," said Emily. "You have to go."

"Why? I want to go to your appointment!" Hotch protested.

"You've got to help them. JJ told me about the case. It's pretty bad." Hotch groaned, knowing that she wouldn't stop protesting.

"Okay, I'll come to your appointment and we'll take a commercial flight out to Michigan to join the team." Hotch said.

"You're so stubborn." Emily laughed.

"I know, but you are too." He said.

**A/N: Alright my beautiful readers, that is all for now. I want to thank you SOOOO much for reviewing my story! I saw that it passed the 80 mark, and I almost died! You are all wonderful, and I hope you liked the chapter. Tah tah for now :) And please review :D**


	21. It Takes Two

**This chapter is dedicated to: ****LacytheDemonicDuck, NCIS-fan-cecy, Rolfy and nataliebianca**

******

Aaron and Emily got to the doctor's office with no time to spare. They got in as the nurse was calling Emily. They obviously had no intention of being late, but here they were. The doctor gave Emily a quick check, and told her that she was definitely pregnant. About 4 weeks. After that, the doctor sent her to get an ultrasound down the hall in the practice. Emily got in the chair and leaned back and Hotch stood beside her, when the door flung open. Both were expecting the ultrasound technician. Both were surprised at who was there.

"Penelope?" Emily said.

"Hello my lovelies!" Garcia said happily.

"What are you doing here?" Hotch asked.

"Everyone is in Michigan. I was stuck here as usual, and then I remembered that you were still here too, so I thought I'd intrude. Am I ruining this family moment?" She asked.

"I don't think you are. Aaron?" Emily asked.

"Nope, you're family so it's hard for you to ruin a family moment." Hotch agreed.

"That's so sweet of you to say boss man." Garcia giggled. This time when the door opened, it was who they were expecting.

"Hey, I'm Dr. Gables. I'm not really an ultrasound guy, I'm an OB/GYN but I'm still a resident." She explained quickly. She was very young. She didn't look too much more than 27. Apparently she didn't want them mixing up whether or not she was a doctor.

"I'm Emily, this is Aaron and that is Penelope." She introduced everyone, and shook Dr. Gables' hand.

"Are you guys one of those alternative families?" the doctor asked and Penelope burst out laughing. Aaron and Emily were a bit embarrassed.

"No!" Penelope laughed. "It's their baby; I'm just tagging along to see."

"Alright. Sorry, I just have to ask." Dr. Gables laughed. "Alright, so we're going to take a peek here and see if your baby is alright."

"Why wouldn't it be?" Emily asked, totally panicked.

"Oh, I didn't mean it like that. Okay, re-phrase. Let's take a peek and see your baby." Dr. Gable said.

"You might want to work on that." Hotch laughed.

"I'm learning." She shrugged. She then turned on the machine and told Emily to pull her shirt up a bit.

"Is the gel cold?" Emily asked. If there was one thing she hated, it was being cold. She hated anything cold on her body.

"Can I be honest with you?" The doctor asked, with a large smile forming on her face.

"Yes please." Emily nodded.

"In a few months, you're going to push an entire person out of you. The cold gel is the least of your worries." They all laughed.

"I like her." Garcia said. "She's been approved by me."

"Thank you." The doctor said with another smile. "And yes, the gel is quite cold." She put the gel on Emily's stomach, and she wasn't lying. The cold made her shudder.

"Is it really that cold?" Hotch wondered.

"Yeah, especially when it's on your stomach." The doctor nodded.

"Do you have kids?" Emily asked as she started giving Emily the ultrasound

"Two."

"You look really young to have to kids." Penelope said.

"I was really young." She agreed. "But enough about me. Here we are." Emily, Aaron and Penelope looked at the screen.

"Oh my god." Emily breathed.

"There he is." Hotch said, smiling widely.

"There's baby A and this..." Dr Gables paused, and the picture on the screen changed. "Is baby B." At first, her words didn't register with Emily. Penelope looked at Emily with wide eyes and Hotch's mouth dropped open.

"Wait." Emily said. "What?"

"You're having twins." Dr. Gables said.

"No. I only ordered one." Emily protested.

"Then I guess they got your order mixed up, because there are two babies."

**

They both got into the car, barely speaking. Sure, they were both excited by the prospect of having twins but it was surprising. Both were concerned about their jobs and each other.

"So," Hotch decided he'd be the one to break the silence.

"So." Emily repeated.

"Do you still want to go meet the team in Michigan?" He asked.

"Actually, I think I might sit this case out. I need a bit of time to process." Emily sighed. She was in no mood to try and find an unsub at the moment.

"Okay. I still have to go though. Do you mind?" He asked.

"Nope." She shook her head quickly. Neither Emily nor Aaron were too keen to address the big elephant in the room. They had almost reached the house before Emily spoke.

"Twins."

"Yeah." He agreed, not taking his eyes off of the road.

"Are we...I mean is that okay?" asked Emily.

"Do we really have a choice?" He said bluntly.

"I guess not. It's not that I'm not excited." She said defensively.

"I understand." He nodded. "It's just not exactly going as planned."

"Apparently nothing in our life will." She sighed and he chuckled quietly.

"You know, twins may be better actually." He concluded.

"How's that?"

"Well...it's two. Two of something good is generally better than one."

"I like your reasoning." She laughed. They pulled into the driveway, but neither of them exited the car. Now that they were finally talking, they had to finish the conversation.

"What are we going to do?" Emily asked, finally looking Hotch in the eyes.

"You're going to be the best mother the twins could have ever gotten." He said quietly. Emily beamed at his words.

"You're the best dad they could have gotten, you know." She said to him, opening her door to leave.

"Thank you Emily. Are you sure you don't want to do the case? Or, I could stay here with you?" He asked.

"No, they need you and I need some time." She smiled. "I'll probably just call Riley like I promised, then have a nap. Call me later?"

"I may postpone calling Riley, because it's 11am on a Monday. She'll be in class right now." He laughed.

"Right." She scoffed. "I forgot." He laughed and rolled his eyes. Emily came around to his side of the car and kissed him repetitively before bidding him farewell.

**

"Hello?" Riley said into the phone. She'd been home from school for less then ten minutes when the phone rang.

"Hey Riley, its Emily."

"I know. Caller ID." Riley said.

"Oh." Emily laughed.

"Yeah, it was a pretty good invention. So, what's new and exciting?"

"I had my doctor's appointment today." She began.

"That is exciting. How did it go?" Riley asked.

"It went pretty well. I'm about four weeks."

"Cool cool."

"Riley, it's twins." Emily said. Riley almost dropped the phone. She grabbed it out of the air, and was very impressed by her skills.

"EMILY! You should have seen it; I just turned into a total ninja! The phone was falling and BAM! Grabbed it out of midair!" She said excitedly. Emily began to laugh.

"That's the most shocking thing that's happened in the last few minutes?" Emily asked.

"No, but it was cool. So twins?"

"Yeah." Emily said. Riley nodded but couldn't think of words to say. "Riley?" Emily asked.

"Oh, I forgot you can't hear me nod." Riley laughed. "That's surprising."

"It is indeed."

"What did my dad think?" Riley wondered.

"You know your father. You can never gage his reaction that well, but he seemed excited."

"True enough. Well congrats. Do you want to tell Jack?" Riley asked.

"Yeah sure."

"Alright. JACK, PHONE!" Riley hollered. Riley's loud scream echoed in Emily's ears.

"Did you even move the phone away from your mouth?" Emily laughed.

"Yes, and I covered it. Here's Jack. Thank you for telling me Emily."

"Your welcome."

"Bye."

"Talk to you later." Emily said. Jack picked up the phone and gave Emily a cheery hello. She delivered the news that she would not just be having one baby, but two. Jack was very excited that he got to be an even bigger brother, as he put it. Emily was just relieved that both of Hotch's kids were okay with Emily having twins. She didn't want for Riley and Jack to feel like these babies would take over their father's affection because his job coupled with new babies would be difficult. Hell, her job combined with two babies would be difficult. Emily was so excited, yet she'd never been more terrified in her entire life.

**

The case that the team worked on was nowhere near as bad as Emily expected. Hotch was back from Michigan in four days, and the unsub was caught. He was caught because of his own mistakes. Prentiss was never so glad to see Aaron. She thought she needed time to process, but what she really needed was Aaron.

"So, our team has got our week's vacation coming up." He said after he got home, and they'd eaten dinner.

"Yeah, it starts on Monday right?" She asked.

"Indeed. We go in tomorrow to fill out paperwork from the last case, and then we have the week off." He said. Usually the weeks off didn't mean much to Hotch, but he had Emily and he had the prospect of having Riley and Jack. Haley had already agreed that the children could have the week off school so they could spend it with Aaron. He hadn't brought up to Emily yet, but he had an idea of how he wanted to spend the vacation.

"You know," he began casually. "I've never taken my children camping."

"Really?" Emily asked. She wondered where that came from, but didn't bother asking. Their conversations were sometimes quite random.

"Never. That's bad right?"

"I don't know?" She said.

"I think I want to though. Eric and Haley took them last year, and it was all they could talk about."

"That's a good idea. You should take them this summer." Emily nodded, but she realized what Hotch was getting at. "Wait, are you suggesting-?"

"Yeah..." He paused and Emily groaned.

"I hate camping!" She protested.

"Why? It'll be fun!"

"No it will not! Plus, it's only April!" Emily whined.

"You know it's been unusually warm. And for the record," He paused. A smirk took over his face. Emily recognized the smirk; it was the same one Riley had given so many times. "I don't recall inviting you."

"Oh, so now I'm not invited on your family excursions?" She snapped.

"What does it matter, you hate camping. I bet you can't even pitch a tent." He pointed out. Emily knew exactly what Hotch was doing. He was making it into a challenge. Sadly, it was working. She wanted to go just to prove him wrong.

"We only get these weeks off so rarely." She muttered to herself mostly, but Aaron heard her.

"Yeah. You can spend it however you want. I'm going to take my children camping. We'll have a better time without you ruining it." He said smugly. He knew he had her.

"Fine." She groaned. "I'll come."

"No, we don't want you." He laughed.

"Oh, give it up. I said I'll join you." She joined in on his laughter, knowing that he was just messing with her.

"Well, if her highness can handle it, she's welcome."

"Shut up!"

"Okay." He agreed, laughing. "So, we'll spend the week camping."

**A/N: There it is my readers. The camping trip that was promised so long ago, and some interesting news. I think that the camping trip will be two or three parts, and will be full of small disasters. As always, I'd love it if you'd review, and thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed it. :D**


	22. Vacation

**Disclaimer: *sigh***

**This chapter is dedicated to: CrimStudent47, NCIS-fan-cecy, Rolfy, Megz-and-Tori, Ninja Bagel and nataliebianca.**

******

_Day One- Sunday Morning_

As promised, Emily and Aaron arrived at Haley's at five on Sunday morning. Jack flew out of the car at a rapid speed, and tossed his suitcase into the trunk. A gigantic smile hung on his face as he jumped into the car and clicked his seatbelt on. Riley trudged out of the house slowly, barely able to keep her eyes open. If she got up of her own accord, she was fine but if someone woke her up, she became the worst morning person ever. Emily knew how she felt, as she felt the same way. Still, Emily managed a small hello. Riley grunted in response and put her suit case in the car. Emily couldn't suppress a giggle at Riley's tired response.

"Alright, is everyone ready?" Hotch asked, mustering up all of the excitement he could at 5 in the morning.

"YES!" Jack screamed.

"What about you, Ri?" He asked, knowing full well she'd rather be sleeping. Still, who can resist toying with a sleep deprived teenager?

"Mmm." She mumbled.

"Woah, calm down Riley. Your excitement is too much." Hotch scoffed and Riley glared at him.

"You know the camp ground will be the same if we left at 9 right?" She whined.

"But we wouldn't get there until after 1. We'd lose half the day." Hotch explained.

"God forbid." Riley rolled her eyes, and Emily snickered. The car was getting warmer as they drove, so Emily reached to turn on the air conditioner. When she flicked the switch however, there was simply a bang.

"What the hell?" She said. Riley groaned, and said something about only being on the road for half an hour and something is already going wrong. Aaron pulled over and got out of the car to look under the hood.

"Oh no." Jack said when Hotch shut the door.

"It's okay honey, we'll be there soon." Emily reassured.

"No, it's not that." Jack mumbled.

"What is it then?" Riley asked.

"Daddy doesn't even know what he's looking for. He's going to make it worse." Both Emily and Riley laughed. It was true. They both knew that Aaron was smart, but he only knew the basics about cars. If it was something bad, there was pretty much nothing he could do. He opened the door, and came back in.

"I think the air conditioning blew." He determined.

"No kidding." Riley said, and he glared at her.

"Oh well, we'll just have to suck it up." Emily said. She didn't realize how bad that was going to be. The next three and a half hours of their drive were overly hot. Having the windows down was pretty much useless. All it was doing was making the hot air circulate through the car. They were all beyond happy to arrive at the campsite. The rest of the day was decent. They took a long hike in the morning and spent the rest of the evening swimming.

_Day One- Sunday Night_

Riley was pretty surprised at how the day turned out. She thought that the air conditioning breaking was a sign of imminent doom. However, no one got hurt on the hike, and no one drown in the lake. Riley was never one to enjoy camping but if there was one thing she liked about it, it was the campfires. She applied about ten pounds of bug repellent, and got out her guitar to play a campfire song. Suddenly, as she pulled the guitar out of the trunk, she heard her father yell. She ran out to see him clutching his hand, standing above the freshly started fire.

"MOTHER FU-" He began yelling when he saw Jack crawl out of the tent he and Riley were sharing.

"What the hell happened now?" Emily asked, emerging from the tent she was sharing with Aaron.

"The damn fire!" He hollered.

"Did you touch it?!" Emily exclaimed.

"The wood fell, I was trying to fix it. Son a bitch." He yelped.

"Daddy!" Jack gasped. It was rare that the young boy heard his father swear.

"Riley, get the first aid kit." Emily said, walking over to Hotch. She grabbed his hand and examined it. "Ouch."

"You think?" Hotch asked sarcastically. He realized that he had snapped at Emily for no reason. He apologized, but Emily didn't care. From the look of the burn, he had a right to be pissed off. Riley grabbed a water bottle, and the first aid kit. She then took her father's hand from Emily's.

"It's first degree." Riley said quietly.

"How do you know?" Emily wondered.

"No blisters." Riley pointed out. "Plus, it's swelling, but it's minimal. Poor this water on it for a minute then put some aloe gel on it. There's some in the first aid kit. After that, throw some gauze on it and take an Advil. I took a first aid course last October." Riley said when she noticed that Emily and her father staring at her.

Riley was correct about the burn. All of her ideas worked, and thought it hurt, Hotch was able to get through the night. Emily extinguished the fire shortly after Hotch was burned, so the 'gathering round the fire' idea went out of the window for that night.

_Day Two- Monday Morning_

"Daddy!" Hotch awoke to the sound of Jack's shrieks. He pried his eyes open and looked at his watch. It was just about 6 in the morning.

"Mmm." He mumbled, noticing how much he sounded like his daughter.

"You said we can go fishing in the morning. It's morning." He exclaimed. Hotch sat up and stretched. It was difficult, but he managed to shoo Jack out, get dressed and exit the tent and not wake up Emily. When he got out of the tent, Jack was already waiting for him. To his surprise, so was Riley.

"He made me." She said, pointing to Jack.

"He's a bit excited." Hotch said, and the three Hotchner's walked down to the dock where they would fish. It took a while to set up their fishing rods, and Hotch was excited when he was finally going to help Jack cast.

"I'm going to get a bobber." Riley said, retreating to where the dock met the shore.

"Okay, so you just flip this." Hotch explained to Jack. "You bring the rod back, and then you flip this back."

"I can do it!" Jack exclaimed, and he took the rod from his father. He was following Hotch's explanation quite well. Jack flicked the rod backwards, but span as he did it. Hotch looked back just in time to watch the fishing rod collide with Riley's stomach as she walked back to Aaron and Jack. Apparently, Jack was spinning quickly because the force from the rod sent Riley into the water.

"Oh shit!" Hotch exclaimed, running for the edge of the dock. He heard Jack yell at him for cursing, but he didn't care. When he spotted Riley, he noticed that the water wasn't overly deep, but Riley was still coughing and spitting out water. She waded over to the dock, and Hotch pulled her out.

"It..it..it's..f-f-freezing." Riley said through chattering teeth.

"Why don't you go back to the campsite with Emily? I'll fish with him." Hotch suggested as he draped the sweater he wore overtop of Riley's shaking body.

"Y-y-yeah." She shivered and walked back to the campsite.

_Day two- Monday night_

Much to everyone's dismay, the day went from bad to worse very quickly. The temperature climbed, and before he knew it, Hotch was totally covered in sunburn. Jack twisted his ankle while they hiked through the forest, and Riley fell over a rock and split her knee open. To make everything worse, a rainstorm started and flooded Riley and Jack's tent. Now, they were all squished into Hotch and Emily's two person tent, as the rain continued.

"This is spooky." Jack said out of the blue in the middle of the night.

"Shush." Riley hissed. "I'm already unable to sleep with your butt in my face; you don't need to talk all night too.

"Emmy, I'm scared." Jack whined.

"Jack, the monsters couldn't find you squished in-between everyone like this." Riley hissed.

"MONSTERS?!" Jack yelled, jumping up, and then falling on top of Emily. Much to everyone's dismay, when Jack fell, he brought the entire tent over with him. They all groaned in disbelief.

"You had to say monsters." Hotch hissed.

"Well, I didn't assume I'd say monsters and he'd jump nine feet in the air." Riley snapped. Emily, Jack and Riley all waited in the car as Hotch attempted to set up the tent again, in the rain.

_Day Three- Tuesday Morning _

"Hey Dad?" Riley called from outside the tent the next morning. Hotch looked at his watch and noticed both him and Emily had slept past nine. Apparently Riley had kept Jack entertained so they could sleep after the tent fiasco. He made a mental note to thank her profusely.

"Yes Ri?" He called from inside the tent.

"When we all got in the car last night, did you take all of the food out?"

"Yes...?" Emily began stirring and Hotch kissed her.

"Yeah. I thought so." Riley sighed.

"What's wrong?" Emily asked sleepily.

"Well, no one put the food away. And there were raccoons." Riley answered angrily.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Hotch exclaimed and he jumped out of the tent. Before he looked at the food, he noticed that Riley was covered from head to toe in mosquito bites. He went to see if she was okay, but she gestured to the grass surrounding their campsite. Sure enough, the coolers were open and the food was scattered, opened, half eaten and soggy from sitting outside in the rain. Emily came out of the tent and gasped when she saw that the food was gone.

"Oh shit!" Emily sighed. "We're supposed to be here until Saturday!"

"We can go to the store?" Jack suggested from the picnic table that he was sitting on.

"Do we know where one is around here?" Riley asked and Emily shook her head.

"Fuck!" Hotch yelled, and everyone stared at him. He rarely swore, and this was one word that neither of his kids, nor Emily had ever heard him use.

"Daddy!" Jack gasped. "That's a really bad word!"

"We're in a really bad situation Jack! Look around! No food, no second tent, no air conditioner in the car! Riley's knee is split open and she is covered in bug bites. You've got a twisted ankle that you're still limping on. My hand if fried and my ENTIRE body is covered in sunburn!" He yelled. "Emily-"

"Is holding poison oak." Riley finished for him. He looked over and saw Emily holding a plant.

"This is poison oak?" She asked through clenched teeth. "It was on the cooler. I was trying to get it off!"

"Yep." Riley said. Emily threw the plant at the ground, and she stomped on it in anger.

"Stupid plant!" She hollered.

"I'd have stomped on it too if I were you Emily, but I would have made sure I was wearing shoes." Riley said, trying her hardest to suppress a giggle. Emily looked down, and Riley correct. She was not wearing any shoes, and was now standing on the plant that was going to make her hands break out.

"Damn it!" She screamed louder.

"That's_ it_!" Hotch yelled. "We're leaving! I'm sorry this isn't as good as when Eric took you camping and that was all you could talk about."

"Eric took us to a cottage." Jack said. Hotch went silent and he aimed a kick at a rock. After his foot collided with the rock, he noticed that he too, wasn't wearing shoes.

"Everyone in the car." He said, deadly calm taking over his voice. "Now." They all followed orders and packed up. Once the site was clear of their stuff, they all got into the car and sat in silence for a few moments.

"Hey Dad?" Riley began.

"Yes Riley?" He said, his voice was calm, but he wasn't masking his anger.

"You still have us until Saturday and your still off for the week."

"And?"

"Why don't we go on an actual vacation?" She asked. Emily perked up.

"What did you have in mind?" She asked Riley.

"That sign up there said there is a hotel in a few miles." Riley said.

"And?" Hotch said again.

"Well, I didn't want to be rude... or at least, more rude than usual, but I don't think camping is a real vacation. A hotel is." She said happily. "We should stay there. No raccoons, no bugs, no lakes, no sunburns, no tents. Everything that pissed you off is gone!"

"Don't say pissed." Hotch corrected.

"Okay, but seriously!" Riley said.

"What do you think?" He asked Emily and Jack.

"Yeah!" Jack exclaimed.

"Nothing could be worse than that trip." Emily agreed, nursing her poison oak. "They might have calamine lotion in the hotel gift shop." She said happily.

"Alright." Hotch agreed. "We'll stay in the hotel." They all grinned, hoping the same thing; that they could salvage their trip by staying in the hotel.

**A/N Alright readers, that's all for now. Please tell me what you thought, aka Review :D**


	23. Bad Day

**Disclaimer: I'm sure you've realized that I own nothing, but just in case you didn't...**

**This chapter is dedicated to: ****hxchick, NCIS-fan-cecy, Rolfy and Sid B.**

******

Riley had read the sign wrong. The hotel she was talking about was not "a few miles away." It was more like an hour away. Everyone was officially frustrated when they pulled into the hotel parking lot. Emily's hands and feet not only itched, but they burned. Hotch's sunburn stung every time he moved, and his hand was sore from steering the car. Every bug bite on Riley itched, and she was obviously not able to scratch them all, plus her knee was stinging under her many Band-Aids. Jack's ankle throbbed, but he was more annoyed that they had to leave the camp site. He didn't understand why everyone wanted to leave so badly.

They all filed out of the car, and Emily raised her eyebrows.

"We're staying here?" She asked. "It looks horrible!" Hotch didn't believe in ghosts, but he knew if they were real, they'd live in that hotel.

"It's better than the campsite." He scoffed as he wandered over to the door. He opened it, and found that Emily was even more correct than she knew. The hotel was nasty. Riley followed him in, and immediately burst into a fit of giggles. Hotch glared at her; he hoped that the hotel staff wouldn't hear her. Emily gasped at the hotel, and Jack waltzed in, in his childish carefree way.

"We're not staying here, are we?" Emily asked.

"We wanted an adventure." Riley said sarcastically.

"Can we?" Jack asked hopefully. "It looks like a scary movie in here!" He exclaimed far too loudly. Someone emerged to the front desk and smiled at them.

"Can I help you?" The man asked them.

"We...we were wondering if you had any vacant rooms?" Hotch asked.

"Actually, all of our rooms are vacant." He said with a smile.

"I wonder why." Riley said. Emily elbowed her. To any bystander Riley sounded sincere, but anyone who knew Riley, knew that she was not.

"We'd like to book a room." Hotch said quietly, and Emily looked at him confused.

"Here you are." He said, handing Hotch a key. "If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask. I'm Mitch, and I'll be here all night. You guys are in room 1408." Riley covered her face in her hands the way Emily did, and she started laughing. She found it highly ironic that they were staying in a hotel that looked haunted and their room number was 1408. That was the title of one of her favourite horror films. Hotch caught the coincidence too, and he rolled his eyes at Riley.

"Thank you." Emily said politely.

"If you don't mind me asking, what happened to you guys?" Mitch asked.

"What do you mean?" Emily asked.

"No offence, but you all look like hell. He's bright red, she's covered in spots, he's limping, and your hands are covered in some kind of rash."

"Oh, long story." Emily sighed and they all walked to the elevator.

**

"If that guy isn't an unsub already," Riley began as she pulled her bathing suit out of her bag. "He will be in the future."

"Riley!" Hotch snapped as he too pulled out his bathing suit. There was a sign in the hall that said that there was a pool on the third floor, and they decided that they would spend the rest of the day swimming. It was noon when they finally got into their room, so they had lots of time.

"What?! He is unsub-tacular." Riley shrugged.

"Don't call people unsubs." He said.

"I called my teacher an unsub!" Jack exclaimed. Emily began laughing.

"What?"

"Yeah! She maked my mom come in for a conference, cause she knew what an unsub was. She said I was unrespectful." Jack explained.

"Disrespectful." Riley corrected and Jack nodded. After taking turns getting their bathing suits on, they all headed for the elevator and got in. When they got to the third floor, they were in for a surprise.

_CLOSED FOR BUGS_; the sign on the door proudly displayed the decay the hotel was in.

"Oh, that is wrong." Emily gagged.

"Ew!" Jack said after reading the sign himself. Hotch smiled at his son's reading ability, but he was disgusted by the bugs.

"Well, at least we can go there for dinner." Riley joked and Emily gagged again.

"Okay...let's go up to our room." Hotch said. He knew that Riley and Emily were both itching to leave, but he desperately wanted to salvage the trip. Maybe ordering a few pay-per-view movies could help?

**

Hotch went down to the front desk to see what movies were offered at the hotel. He also wanted to find out what the food situation was going to be like. Emily resolved to stay upstairs with Riley and Jack. The whole 'bugs in the pool' thing set her off, and apparently she was getting her morning sickness in the afternoon. Hotch looked at his watch as the elevator took him down. It said it was ten after 1. He, Emily and the kids were all starving, as they didn't have breakfast or lunch. The elevator was the slowest one he'd ever encountered, but Aaron eventually got to the main floor.

"Excuse me?" Hotch said as he got to the front desk.

"Can I help you sir?" Mitch asked.

"Yes, do you have a list of movies that we can order?" Mitch nodded and handed the list to Aaron.

"Make sure your TV is on channel 4 to order a movie." He explained.

"Thank you." Aaron nodded.

"No problem. Anything else?"

"Yes actually. Is there anywhere to get food here?" Aaron asked.

"Well...actually, it's closed." Mitch mumbled.

"For renovations?" Hotch asked hopefully.

"Yes!" Mitch exclaimed much too quickly. "Renovations. Not rats. Anyways, you can always order pizza from the parlor down the street. Here's the number. They'll deliver it to your room." Hotch made a mental note not to tell anyone why the kitchen was really closed. He thanked Mitch and went back to the elevator.

**

Aaron ordered pizza while Riley looked over the list of movies. Emily had not gotten over her 'afternoon sickness' and was still in the bathroom and as soon as he was done ordering, Hotch joined her in the bathroom. Jack coloured on a pad of paper that he found in the hotel room.

"Uhm..." Riley began.

"What is it Ri?" Hotch called to her from inside the bathroom.

"I think you got the wrong list of movies." Hotch and Emily looked at each other strangely. Hotch got up and went to leave the bathroom but Emily motioned for him to help her off the floor. He obeyed, and then he and Emily went out to see what Riley was talking about.

"What do you mean 'the wrong list'?" Emily asked, putting air quotes around the last three words.

"Well." She started and she began to laugh.

"What?" Hotch asked.

"These movies, they're not exactly family appropriate." Riley laughed so hard she began to cry.

"Why?" Emily asked cautiously, assuming she knew what Riley knew.

"This is a list of...um...pornographic films." Hotch's eyes nearly burst out of his head and Emily looked at her confused.

"How do you know that they're porn?" Emily asked.

"I'm pretty sure 'Doctor Do-Me A Little' and 'Buffy The Vampire Layer' would be pornographic names." Riley giggled. Hotch snatched the list from Riley's hands and groaned. Every title on the list was pornographic.

"Son of a bitch! Can anything go right?" He wondered out loud. Emily looked over the list and laughed.

"Those sound great." She said jokingly.

"Ew. Creep." Riley said. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Everyone was excited to see the pizza was finally there. Hotch paid the man and they all ate the pizza very quickly. Riley offered it to everyone, and then reached for the last piece when they all said they didn't want it. She took a bite, and then turned very pale.

"What?" Aaron asked. Riley didn't answer. She spit the pizza into the napkin she was holding. She shuddered and then lifted her pizza up to her father. She pointed to a bug sitting on it.

"Oh my god!" Emily squeaked. "That was on our PIZZA?"

"That's half a bug." Riley said quietly as she ran to the bathroom.

"That's nasty!" Jack yelled. "Riley ate a bug!" Emily had to fight to keep a straight face on during the whole fiasco.

"You think that is funny?" Hotch asked.

"A bit." Emily giggled.

**

By nine o'clock, everyone was exhausted. They all agreed they'd stick it out for the night, and then leave in the morning. They assumed they'd live until then. For dinner they ate the food they were able to salvage from their camping trip; they weren't taking their chances on the pizza place again.

"AHH!" Emily screamed as she jumped up in the bed her and Hotch were sharing.

"What the hell?" Riley exclaimed as her and Jack both sat up.

"Don't say hell." Hotch corrected as he sat up too.

"There's a freaking RAT in our room!" Emily leapt off her bed and on to a chair. She began tossing things into her suitcase.

"I thought we would suck it up for the night?" Hotch asked.

"That's when it was bugs. Rats too? Not a hope in hell!" She cried. Riley and Jack both got out of bed and put stuff in their cases.

"I'm so tired from all of this; can we just stay the night?" Hotch begged.

"Aaron, they have no calamine lotion, so I've almost scratched my hands to nubs. This place is infested with bugs and rats. The guy downstairs is unsub-tacular!" She yelled. "I'm not staying her one more second!"

"I agree with Emily." Riley said.

"Me too. This is icky." Jack nodded.

"Alright!" Hotch agreed. They packed up all of their stuff as quickly as they could, and booked out of the room. The elevator took them down to the main floor at around ten o'clock.

"Leaving so soon?" Mitch asked, and Hotch threw money at him for the room.

"Yes!"

**

They drove for an hour and it was beginning to feel hopeless. Emily and Jack had both fallen asleep, and Riley was sitting awake, trying to help her father find a place to stay.

"You know that one day we'll look back and laugh at this." She reasoned.

"Yep." He nodded.

"It builds character." She said.

"Indeed." He agreed.

"But right now? I just want to kill someone." She sighed.

"I agree." Hotch laughed.

"THERE!" Riley hollered.

"What?!" Hotch yelled, waking up Emily and Jack.

"A hotel! And it's a chain one! The Four Seasons." Riley sighed happily.

"Everyone okay with that?" Hotch asked, and they all nodded happily. "Good, because I'm exhausted."

**A/N: Alright, things will look up next chapter, but I couldn't resist messing up the first hotel! :) Anyways, I hope this was enjoyable. Whether you liked it or not, you should review! Yes indeed, please review! **


	24. Come Together

**Disclaimer: I'm sure you've realized that I own nothing, but just in case you didn't...**

**This chapter is dedicated to:** **CrimStudent47, hxchick, Sid B., NCIS-fan-cecy, nataliebianca, McNinja.**

******

No one was overly optimistic as they entered The Four Seasons hotel. Hotch and Emily were both on the verge of passing out. Riley was not overly tired, but her bug bites were itching so much she wanted to scream. Jack slept cradled in Hotch's arms. They walked over to the front desk and the girl looked at them and smiled.

"Camping this week?" She asked with a smile. Her name tag said 'Monica'.

"Could you tell?" Riley laughed.

"A bit." She shrugged.

"We'd like a room until Saturday if you have any." Hotch said.

"Yes we do." Monica said, with another smile. She started typing on her computer and told Hotch the price. He handed her his credit card and she swiped it.

"So, we're good?" Emily asked.

"Yep. You'll be in room 210."

"Thank you." Hotch nodded.

"Oh, and do you have a list of movies that we can order?" Riley asked.

"Yeah, here it is." She handed the list to Riley.

"Hey, look! There's no porn!" She exclaimed. Hotch rolled his eyes and Emily snickered. Monica looked confused for a few moments, but then a look of realization came over her face.

"Did you guys try and stay at that cesspool that's an hour from here?" She asked.

"Yes. That was something else." Hotch nodded.

"Thank you for the room." Emily said, and they all went up to the room.

******

"We went from that crap stand to this?" Riley said as they opened their door. They were staying in a huge suit that night. It was amazing, especially compared to the hotel they were at just hours before. There was a Jacuzzi tub, a huge fire place, room service, an advertisement for a spa, and so much more that Riley was no longer tired.

"A spa!" Emily cried. "And no bugs! I know what I'm doing tomorrow!"

"This place is great." Hotch said in a hushed voice. "Just shush a bit. I don't want to wake Jack up."

"I'm awake." The little boy sat up in his father's arms.

"Hey buddy." Hotch said.

"I've been awake since we got here; I just was too tired to walk." Jack laughed as he jumped out of his father's arms and started running around the room.

"He's so much like you." Hotch said, cocking his head in Riley's direction.

"What did I do?" she asked defensively.

"You did that all the time when you were little. You'd fake sleep so your mother and I would carry you around. But you'd tell us you were awake and laugh." Riley opened her mouth to argue, but she admitted that it sounded like something she would have done. They all started looking around and unpacking their things when Jack announced that he was hungry. They had eaten their poorly made dinner hours before, and it was now after midnight. They were all hungry, and with good reason. Emily called room service and ordered food. Once it got there, they all sat down at the small dining set in the room.

"So," began Riley. "I've been wondering this for a while. How did my dad ask you out Emily?" Emily blushed, remembering that her and Hotch skipped the 'asking out' stage and just went to the 'sex' stage.

"Well," Hotch began. He actually knew what to say. "We were at a bar after a case. Some loser asked Emily to dance and I knew that he was probably an unsub."

"He was not!" Emily laughed.

"Hey lady, this is my story." Hotch said. Riley laughed and Emily stuck out her tongue at him. Jack nibbled on his pizza, and then he cleared his throat.

"Daddy?"

"Yes Jack?" Before Jack could say anything else, he fell asleep and landed face first in his pizza.

"Oh!" Hotch said. He jumped out of his seat and carried Jack over to the bathroom to clean off his face. Hotch was glad that he put Jack in his pajamas before they started eating. Once Jack was all cleaned up, Hotch tucked him in and returned to the dining set.

"Okay, so where was I?" He asked.

"The unsub that tried to attack Emily." Riley said.

"That's not what happened." Emily protested.

"But I'm sure it's more interesting." Riley concluded. "Continue."

"Okay. I knew he was bad news, but like any good unsub, he was charming. He had charmed Emily into thinking that he was a good guy and poor, poor Emily believed him." Hotch continued dramatically.

"Jeez Aaron! That's not even close to what happened. I'll tell you the truth." Emily said.

"Alright."

"Well, we were really at a bar after a case. That much was true. Anyways, this really nice guy asked me to dance. I went over and danced with him-" She started when Hotch cut her off.

"Dancing like a hooch." He said, and Riley laughed.

"I can't believe you said hooch, and I figured!" Riley said. Emily glared at them, but knew that they were joking. At least, Riley was because she wasn't there, and didn't know that she actually was.

"Anyways, your dad gets so jealous he practically turns green." Emily smirked.

"I don't remember that." Hotch blushed when she said that.

"Oh really? So he comes up to us, and convinced him that he's booked an appointment with me for the night." Emily continued.

"Like a hooker?"

"Yes, exactly like a hooker." Emily nodded.

"That's terrible!" Riley exclaimed.

"It worked, didn't it?" He said under his breath and Emily punched him softly in the arm.

"Whatever. So we got into a huge fight, and he begged me to forgive him because I'm the best woman ever. He said he'd give me everything if I loved him too. Of course, I didn't give in right away, but I eventually let him be my boyfriend." She concluded.

"Oh, and _I'm_ the liar?" He protested.

"Yes." Emily shrugged.

"You know, you guys are a pretty good couple. The chemistry is there. An odd couple, but still." Riley said.

"How are we an odd couple?" Emily asked.

"Okay, I'll rephrase. You're a funny couple. Your dynamics make me laugh."

"That makes more sense." Hotch agreed, and then he noticed what time it was. "Alright, go brush your teeth and get ready for bed."

"I'm not tired." Riley protested like a young child.

"It's two in the morning. Go to bed now." He said. Once she left to go get ready, Hotch and Emily followed suit. Despite her protests, it was obvious that Riley was tired. She fell asleep as soon as her head hit the bed. The same went for Hotch and Emily.

******

The rest of the days flew by. They were all excited to get the vacation they wanted. Emily and Riley spent a lot of time in the spa, much to the dismay of Hotch's credit card. Jack and Aaron found a golf course about ten minutes away, and spent a lot of time there. Hotch also spent a lot of time trying to explain to Riley and Emily how his six year old could beat him at golf. The pool was visited often, and many movies were rented. Aaron's burn was healing and so was his sunburn. Riley's bites were getting better, and so was her knee. Jack's ankle didn't cause him any more grief and thanks to an ample supply of calamine lotion, Emily's poison oak was almost gone. When Monday finally rolled around, Hotch and Emily had many stories to share.

"Hey!" Penelope exclaimed when they walked into the bullpen. She and Morgan were sitting at his desk chatting.

"Hi!" Emily said. "What are you doing here so early?"

"We haven't been here in a week." Derek shrugged. "Okay Hotch, why are you peeling?"

"Long story."

"How was camping?" Penelope asked as JJ emerged from her office.

"Oh yeah! How was it?" She called down. Soon enough, she was standing with them waiting to hear about their trip.

"Short lived and full of disaster." Emily laughed. "What did you guys get up to?" As she asked, Reid and Rossi came into the bullpen and greeted everyone.

"Will and I took Henry to see my parents for the week. It was really nice." JJ said.

"Baby girl and I went to Florida and planted our asses on the beach for the week." Morgan laughed.

"I went to visit my mom, and Catherine and I hung out in Vegas." Reid said and Morgan raised his eyebrows suggestively. Reid ignored him.

"I didn't do anything special. By the way, you look like you have a disease Aaron." Rossi said, and they all laughed.

"It's just a sunburn!"

"It's a bad one!" Garcia said. "And why is your hand bandaged?" They had went to the doctors on Sunday when they returned, and the doctor did a better job bandaging it and told him to keep it on for a week even thought it was healing nicely.

"Aaron touched the campfire." Emily explained.

"Wait, you say that like it's a bad idea." Morgan quipped.

"Yeah? Well, Emily picked up poison oak, and then proceeded to jump on it without any shoes on!" He smirked.

"Yikes!" JJ said.

"That was smart." Rossi said, and they all laughed.

"Was your entire week full of such disasters?" Reid asked.

"Let's see; the air-conditioning broke in the car, Hotch touched the fire, Jack knocked Riley into the lake with his fishing rod and almost broke his ankle, Hotch got so sunburnt he looked a cooked lobster, Riley got a million mosquito bites, the kids tent leaked, raccoons stole most of our food and I picked up and stepped on poison oak. We then found a hotel to stay in which was infested with bugs and rats with no restaurant or pool. We ordered pizza which had bugs in it, and Riley ate one of the bugs. We then tried to rent a movie and all they had to offer was porn." Emily listed. "So yes, it was full of disasters."

"Holey shit!" Penelope exclaimed.

"That's...yeah. I think holey shit is the right expression." Morgan laughed.

"We ended up going to the Four Seasons later though." Hotch said.

"Still, that sounds like the worst trip ever!" JJ said.

"You know what?" Emily said. "It was actually one of the funniest weeks of my entire life!" She began laughing about all of their misfortune. Hotch soon was laughing too. Maybe Riley was right. It wasn't funny at the time, but looking back, it really was. Maybe crappy events really did build character.

**A/N: Alright, that's all for now! ****Anyways, please please please review if you liked it or not! Thanks for reading!**


	25. Dirty Little Secret

**Disclaimer: I'm sure you've realized that I own nothing, but just in case you didn't...**

**This chapter is dedicated to:**** McNinja, NCIS-fan-cecy, Rolfy, and nataliebianca**

******

Hotch sat at his desk, toying lazily with the red box in his hands. The contents were his grandmothers. He never thought Haley would like it. It was never made for Haley. But Emily? It was definitely made for Emily. He quickly shoved it into his desk when someone opened his office door without knocking.

"David, is it really that hard to knock?" He asked, slightly frustrated.

"No." He shrugged.

"Is there something you need?"

"What was in the box?" Rossi asked with a smile. Hotch blushed.

"What box?"

"Don't play stupid with me. The little red box. What's in it?" Rossi asked.

"Rossi, if I wanted you to see, I would have shown it to you." Hotch said impatiently.

"Come on. If you don't let me see it-" Rossi said as he slowly approached Aaron's desk. Aaron lunged for his desk drawer, but it was too late. Rossi had already grabbed the box out of his desk drawer.

"For an old guy, you're pretty fast." Hotch sighed as Rossi opened the box. He cringed, and waited for Rossi to say something mockingly about it.

"Aaron." Rossi said quietly. He pulled the beautiful, antique engagement ring out of the box and held it in the light.

"Shut up." He said, becoming very flustered. He snatched the box out of Rossi's hand and put it back in the box.

"You're proposing?"

"I don't know." Hotch sighed. "I love her so much, but we've barely been together six months. Do you think that it's too soon?"

"I don't know Hotch. You two aren't exactly famed for waiting." Rossi chuckled, rubbing his hand over his stomach.

"Yes, mock me. That's what I need. Don't give me advice or anything." Hotch said sarcastically.

"Aaron, am I really the one to ask for marriage advice?" Dave asked him, and Hotch knew he was right.

"What should I do?" Hotch buried his head in his arms on his desk.

"Kid, I've got no idea." Rossi chuckled again.

"Don't call me kid, and do me a favour. Get out." Hotch said from under his arms. Dave laughed as he left the office. About five minutes after Rossi left, there was a knock on the door.

"Rossi, go away." Hotch yelled, but JJ opened the door.

"Not Rossi. Just me." JJ said with a small smile.

"Alright." Hotch said.

"Emily wanted me to tell you that she's going out for lunch with Reid and Morgan. We're invited, but I've got to look over some files." JJ explained.

"No, I'm going to stay here." Hotch said.

"Are you okay? You seem off." JJ said.

"Yeah, Rossi just kind of-" Hotch said and he paused.

"No worries. He does that to all of us." She laughed.

"Yeah." Hotch paused again, then thought of something. Maybe Dave was a crappy person to ask about a proposal. Maybe he needed a female's opinion. JJ was one of Emily's best friends, so she'd give good insight. He gritted his teeth then took the plunge. "Hey JJ?"

"Yeah Hotch?"

"Can I ask you something?" He asked hopefully.

"Of course." JJ nodded, taking a seat in one of the chairs in front of Hotch's desk.

"Okay, well...I need your opinion on this." He said, and he handed JJ the little red box. She opened it, and her eyes widened.

"Oh my god Hotch. It's beautiful." She breathed.

"Is it too soon?" He asked.

"I don't know." She shook her head.

"Great." He sighed.

"Hotch; I can't give you too much advice. I'm not you." JJ said lightly.

"Okay, be Emily for a moment. Would she say yes?" He asked.

"Well, I don't know. This_ is _probably the closest thing she's ever had to a real relationship." JJ thought out loud.

"What are you talking about? Prentiss has had other relationships." Hotch said.

"No Hotch. Prentiss has had one night stands and first dates." JJ explained. "Haven't you ever talked to her about her past relationships?"

"No, she won't talk about it."

"She hasn't got the best track record. Six months for Emily is like five years for a normal person."

"It's that bad?" He asked, surprised.

"Well, it's not terrible. I mean, she's not a big slut or anything like that. She just doesn't trust too well; she expects everything to go wrong and when it does, she fluffs it off." JJ explained. "You're the first man she ever told me she loved."

"Does that work in favour of a proposal?" He asked.

"Maybe. The down side is, she might think you're just doing it for the baby."

"But I'm not!" He exclaimed.

"I didn't say you were. It's just hard to judge."

"So in other words, you're not going to tell me what to do?" He asked, still hopeful that JJ'd change her mind and give him the answer.

"I can't do that Hotch. But if it's any consolation, it's a beautiful ring." JJ said, with a small smile.

"Thank you." He said quietly as she walked out of his office.

**

"Hey Emily?" JJ asked her as the jet took off. They were headed for New York because there was a possible serial killer murdering aspiring actresses.

"Yeah?"

"Do you ever think about getting married?" She didn't plan on telling her about the ring, but she wanted to do Hotch a favour and see how she felt.

"Now?" Emily asked, thoroughly surprised.

"Yes, at this exact second." JJ laughed.

"Whatever." Emily laughed. "I don't know. Maybe."

"Do you want to get married ever?"

"Yeah, I do. Who would have thought that I'd be so domestic?" Emily giggled.

"So, how soon?" JJ asked.

"Until?"

"You'd want to get married. Say Hotch was to propose. What would you say?" JJ pressed. Emily raised her eyebrows at JJ.

"Do you know something I don't?" Emily wondered.

"No!" JJ said a bit too loudly. Emily leaned closer.

"What do you know?"

"Nothing. I was just wondering." Emily knew that she was lying, but she obviously didn't want Emily to know whatever she was hiding.

"Okay, well hypothetically, why does he want to marry me?"

"What do you mean?"

"Does he want to marry me because I'm having his babies?" Emily asked.

"Nope. Just because he loves you." JJ said. A smile grew on Emily's face.

"I don't know. I mean, he's the only guy I've ever loved. He's the best thing that ever happened to me. My life is so much better because he's in it." Emily said.

"Oh my god! You want to marry him!" JJ squealed.

"Please don't tell him!" Emily pleaded.

"Why? It's so cute!"

"I don't want it to be like I'm pressuring him into this. I don't want him to think we're getting too serious too fast." Emily explained.

"Right, because you're taking it nice and slowly. You're six weeks pregnant, but that's not too serious." JJ said sarcastically. Emily glared at her, but they shut up quickly when Reid came to sit with them.

"Hey ladies. What are we talking about?" He asked them.

"Marriage." Emily said.

"Oh? Is someone getting married?" He said, looking at Emily.

"Yes, did my big fat engagement ring give it away?" Emily laughed. Reid did too, and they were both surprised when JJ didn't laugh.

"What do you know?" Emily asked.

"Nothing!" JJ snapped.

"JJ-" Emily began.

"Would you get off my ass?" JJ said angrily, as she walked to another seat. Emily and Reid exchanged glances.

"Oh, she knows something." Reid smirked.

"Indeed." Emily laughed.

**

"JJ, what were you hiding from Emily?" Spencer asked when they landed, and were going into the hotel lobby.

"Do you promise you won't tell her?" JJ asked.

"Of course."

"Hotch has a ring." JJ said excitedly.

"So what?" Reid said, and JJ rolled her eyes.

"An engagement ring Spence. He's going to propose to her!" JJ clapped her hands together when she said this.

"No way! That's great." He said.

"I know, just don't tell her okay?" She said.

"Your secret is safe with me." Reid said, and JJ walked off to her room. Reid was walking to his, when he was stopped by Morgan.

"Reid, do you have any idea why JJ was yelling at Emily to 'get off her ass' on the plane? Those two never fight. It's weird." Morgan said.

"Well, I'm not supposed to tell anyone." Reid thought out loud.

"Okay, now that you said that, you have to tell me." Morgan laughed.

"I don't know."

"You're going to end up telling me, so just do it now."

"Alright. But you can't tell Emily." Reid said.

"Okay...?"

"Hotch has an engagement ring. He's going to propose to Emily." Reid explained.

"Seriously? When?" Morgan asked, and Reid shrugged.

"If I find out, you'll be the first to know." Reid said. Him and Morgan both went their separate ways. Morgan found his room, and pulled out his phone before he sat on his bed.

"Miss me already sexy?" Garcia laughed when she answered her phone.

"You know it baby girl." Morgan laughed.

"I bet I know what you missed most about me." She said seductively into the phone.

"Whoa baby girl. Don't get me all excited without you here to follow through. Anyways, I have major gossip for your pretty ears."

"Ouuh. I loves me some gossip! Fire away sexy." Garcia giggled.

"Apparently Hotch has a ring, and he's planning on proposing to Emily."

"No way!" Garcia squealed. "Who told you?"

"Reid told me, JJ told him and Hotch told her." Morgan listed.

"You sound like a fifteen year old girl, with all that he said she said nonsense." Garcia laughed.

"You asked." He laughed.

"Well, I hate to interrupt our phone session hotness, but I'm needed elsewhere." Garcia said.

"Alright. Love you baby girl." He said.

"Love you too." She said, and she hung up the phone. Immediately she picked it up again and smashed the numbers to a familiar phone in.

"Hotchner."

"You've got a ring?!" She squealed into the phone.

"What?!"

"Oh boss man! You're proposing to Prentiss! That's so cute!" She yelled happily.

"Who told you that?" He asked, wondering how she knew already. He only told JJ and Rossi.

"Morgan told me." She said.

"Morgan? How did Morgan know?"

"Reid told him."

"Reid? Who told Reid?" Hotch wondered out loud.

"JJ." Garcia said.

"Uggh, I knew I shouldn't have told her!" He sighed.

"Relax captain. Emily will make a fantastic co-captain."

"Well, I hope your hopes aren't up because I'm not doing it for a while." He said stubbornly.

"Oh!" She said sadly. "Why?"

"Because...she might say no." He admitted sadly.

"Yeah right! Emily's head over heals in love with you." Garcia laughed.

"You think so?" His mood brightened drastically.

"Duh. Hotch man, you should really do this. You're perfect for each other!"

"Really?"

"You're the peanut butter to her jelly. You're the thunder to her lightning. You are the Beyonce to her Lady Gaga." Garcia listed.

"The what to her who?" Hotch laughed.

"Beyonce to her Lady Gaga. Watch the "Telephone" music video, you'll get it." She laughed.

"So should I really do this?" He asked.

"Yes! But not in New York. Do it somewhere special, like at the bar where you first called her a hooker. That'll be perfect."

"I think you're right." He said.

"Of course I am." She said happily.

"Alright then! As soon as we get back, I'm proposing to Emily Prentiss!"

**A/N: TAAAHDAAAH! That's all for now, my beautiful readers! Please hit the review button! Abigail would be very pleased if you do this! :D PS, have any suggestions for upcoming chapters or anything you'd really like to see? Let me know! I'm always looking for input from my fantastic readers, who rock by the way :D**


	26. My Favourite Mistake

**Disclaimer: I still don't own anything, but I'll keep you posted!**

**This chapter is dedicated to:** **hxchick, miks, McNinja, NCIS-fan-cecy, CrimStudent47, Rolfy, nataliebianca and Megz-and-Tori.**

She'd been getting sick since three o'clock that morning. Emily's morning sickness had been getting really bad lately. She'd talked to her doctor about it, but she simply said that every woman was different. Some woman got their morning sickness later in the pregnancy than others, and some got sick more often. Regardless, it was now quarter to six, and she was being sick again.

"I hope you don't plan on coming in today." Hotch said as he knelt down beside her on the cold bathroom floor.

"What are you talking about? Of course I'm-" Emily attempted to protest, but more vomit came instead of a witty retaliation.

"Emily, don't be stubborn. You've been being sick for almost three hours. What if it gets worse?" He said warmly.

"Aaron, I'm coming in today. You can't stop me." She said angrily.

"Fine, I'm not speaking as your boyfriend anymore, because as your boyfriend, I apparently have no authority." Hotch laughed, but got serious in a few seconds. "I am now speaking as your boss SSA Aaron Hotchner. You are not coming into work. If you come in, there will be issues Agent Prentiss. Understood?" Emily scrunched her face in anger. She hated it when he played the 'boss' card. He had all the authority when he was the boss.

"Whatever." She mumbled in defeat.

"Thank you." Hotch nodded. "Do you need anything?"

"No. I told you I'm-" She tried to let him know how fine she was, but the morning sickness took her words.

"Are you sure the doctor said this was normal?" Hotch asked.

"Yep." Emily said, wiping her mouth on a Kleenex. "She said it was different for everyone."

"I don't care what she said. It's been hours. If you're not better by the time I'm back, I'm taking you to the hospital." He said, rubbing her back. She smiled and looked at him strangely. "What?"

"It's cute when you're protective of me." He blushed and mumbled incoherently at her words. Suddenly, the phone rang and interrupted their moment.

"Hello?" Hotch said tiredly into the phone.

"Aaron, I need your help." A distressed sounding Haley was on the other end.

"What's wrong?" He said as panic took over. "Did something happen to one of the kids?"

"Yes, our stupid daughter." She huffed.

"Our stupid daughter? What are you talking about?"

"Riley got suspended yesterday. Only for today, but still. I was supposed to take the day off and monitor her so she didn't have any fun-" Haley began but Hotch interrupted her.

"Wait. What? Riley got suspended?" Hotch asked, totally shocked.

"Yep." Haley sighed angrily.

"What did she do?"

"Skipping class."

"Riley? That's so unlike her." He said, still in shock. This was out of character. It was true that Riley got in trouble in Catholic school, but she got in trouble for being too confrontational. She had issues, and confronted them in the wrong ways. However, it wasn't like her to just not show up.

"I know. That's what I said. Since she has a clean record, they're just suspended her for one day. Anyways, I was supposed to have the day off, because I wanted to be home to make sure she wasn't just goofing around. Is there any way you can watch her?" Haley asked.

"I've got to work too." Hotch said. He was still in the bathroom while he was having the conversation with Haley. Emily tapped on his leg, and he asked Haley to hold on.

"Riley got suspended?" She asked.

"Yes, for cutting class. Haley wants me to watch her so she doesn't have any fun, but she loves coming into work with me." He said.

"Tell Haley to bring her here." Emily suggested.

"You've been sick all night!"

"Exactly! How much fun would it be to hang around with a sick pregnant woman all day? If you want to punish her, this is perfect." Emily said, nodding.

"No." Hotch said, but Emily snatched the phone from his hands.

"Haley? It's Emily."

"Oh. Hello Emily." Haley said.

"Listen, Aaron does have to work today, but perhaps I could be of assistance?" Emily said.

"Really?" Haley said, sounding relieved.

"Yeah, sure. I'm off sick today."

"Oh, if you're sick there is now way I'm dumping the delinquent on you." Emily tried to suppress a giggle when Haley called Riley a delinquent, but she didn't do a good job.

"Haley, its morning sickness. I don't have anything bad. Plus, what could be more boring than sitting with a fat lady who barfs all the time?" Emily joked. Haley laughed.

"Are you sure?"

"It would be my pleasure." Emily said.

"Okay, but don't be nice to her. She is in huge trouble. I've got to be at work for about ten, so can I drop her off a little after eight?" Haley asked.

"Yeah, that's perfect."

"But seriously, no fun for her at all." Haley demanded.

"She will have the worst day of her fifteen years." Emily assured her.

"Thank you so much Emily." Haley said.

"Don't mention it." Emily said, and they both said brief farewells before hanging up. Emily recapped the conversation between her and Haley for Hotch.

"I can't believe it." Hotch said quietly when the phone conversation had ended.

"I know. Riley isn't a skipper."

"Should I be pissed, or should I be ashamed that I know my daughter so little?" He asked.

"Probably pissed." Emily said.

"Okay. I just wish she wasn't coming so late. I've got to leave by seven thirty. I want to see her and talk about this." Hotch said.

"I can talk to her." Emily suggested.

"No, I don't want to arrest her for killing you." Hotch joked.

"Alright." She said. "Now go get ready for work while I puke again."

* * *

As promised, Riley showed up at Hotch and Emily's house just after eight. She came in with a scowl and plopped herself down on the couch while Haley and Emily made small talk. They both avoided talking about Riley, because it was clear that Haley was beyond pissed at her. She left with a small goodbye to Riley, but nothing spectacular.

"So," Emily said as she sat down beside Riley.

"Mhm." Riley nodded.

"You got suspended for skipping." Emily stated.

"Yep." Riley said impatiently. "Is it hard to understand?"

"No," Emily said.

"So?" Riley said.

"So why'd you want to get caught?" Emily asked.

"What planet are you on? Who wants to get caught and get suspended?"

"You're super smart Riley. If you wanted to skip and not get caught, you wouldn't get caught." Emily said.

"Whatever." Riley sighed. She knew Emily was very correct. If she didn't want to be caught, she wouldn't.

"So, want to hear what I think?"

"Not really." Emily ignored what she said.

"I think your mother and step father have been working a lot lately. Your dad has always worked a lot. You've been deprived attention lately. Work is coming first for both parents now." Emily said.

"Don't profile me!" Riley snapped.

"Am I wrong?" Emily asked. "Any attention is better than none. Look at today. Your mother is so pissed she won't talk about you. You have her full attention whether she admits it or not. And your dad? You know the second that he gets in he'll have something to say."

"Stop it!"

"You just want them to notice you. That's normal. No matter what you do, they've been pushing you away. This got them to notice you." Emily said. She was pushing Riley.

"Emily! Knock it off!"

"Why?" Emily asked. "Have I hit a soft spot?"

"What do you care? You don't care about me at all. You're just some girl my dad screws." Riley spat.

"I did hit a soft spot there." Emily smirked. Riley's face contorted in anger as she tried to think of an insult.

"Can you leave me alone?" Riley finally said quietly.

"Riley," Emily said. "I know I'm just some girl your dad screws, but I really do care about you."

"Thanks." Riley said quietly.

"Riley, this time it was just a suspension this time. It was just skipping a few classes, but it doesn't stop there." Emily sighed.

"How do you know?" Riley said, but Emily ignored her.

"Pretty soon, you'll be skipping class so often that your parents will stop paying attention to that. You'll have to find other ways to get attention. Smoking, drinking, drugs, tattoos, sex. They'll get your parents attention. Once you start going down this path, it's a hard to recover. You'll begin to love the negative attention Riley." Emily said. Riley cocked her head to the side and looked at Emily strangely.

"Did you do all those things?" Riley asked and Emily nodded.

"It started with skipping a class here and there. I tried some cigarettes here and there. I drank; I got high a few times. I even snuck out and got a tattoo. All the while, I made sure my mother caught me. I wanted her to see me like that." Emily said.

"So, what happened?"

"I pushed too hard. What started as a few fun, bad things became regular occurrences. I ended up making the biggest mistake of my life. Once you make a mistake like that, your parents will never look at you the same again Riley. Take it from me." Emily sighed sadly.

"Now, I'm not saying that this it's what I'm doing, but say I was acting out for attention." Riley sighed. "What would be so terrible that my parents would never look at me again? What did you do Emily?"

"I...I got pregnant." Riley's eyes widened and she swallowed hard.

"Did you- I mean, did you..." Riley tried.

"Yes. I got an abortion. I just wanted attention from someone, and he gave me the attention. I know your parents have let you down many times, but Riley, doing things like skipping class for attention is not the way to feel better. Trust me." Riley sat quietly for a few moments. She didn't know what to say, but she could feel her eyes filling up with tears.

"I just want them to notice me!" Riley sobbed into her hands, and Emily pulled her into her arms.

"I know. I know." Emily cooed as she rubbed Riley's hair.

"I feel like I have no right be so sad." She cried.

"Riley, you're preaching to the choir. I know exactly how you feel. It's so lonely when your parents work so much." Emily sighed. Though she was trying to cheer Riley up, her thoughts went back to her own childhood. "At least you have a lot of friends."

"I know, but it's not the same!" Riley cried. "Friends are great, and I have the best ones ever but they're my parents. They're never home."

"I know. It's okay to feel like this Riley. But honey, getting negative attention isn't going to help. It's just going to bite you in the ass." Emily said as she held Riley in her arms.

"For the record," Riley mumbled quietly after a few moments of silence. "I don't hate you. I don't just think of you as someone my dad screws. I was just mad. I'm really sorry. I do like you Emily."

"Thank you for saying that Riley." Emily said with a small smile.

"Thank you for telling me about your past." Riley said.

"Just don't let my bad decisions be in vain. Let them show you what not to do." Emily said with a small laugh.

"I promise I won't skip again." Riley said quietly.

* * *

"Riley Anna Maria Hotchner! I need a word." Hotch said when he entered the house and slammed the door.

"I thought she was Riley Ann Hotchner?" Emily said.

"Riley Anna Maria Hotchner is my full name. I usually just hear that when I'm in big trouble. They call me Riley Ann when they want to use my full name, but I'm not in trouble." Riley laughed.

"Oh no young lady. No laughter. This is serious!" Hotch yelled.

"I know dad. Before you yell, can I say something?" Riley asked. He nodded stiffly and waited for her to protest. "Look dad, I'm really sorry about skipping class. I know I shouldn't have done it. It was stupid and irresponsible. I will never do it again, ever." Hotch looked at her strangely.

"You're not going to protest?"

"What would I protest? I was 100% in the wrong. I accept whatever punishments you and mom give me. I deserve them." Riley said, and she hugged her dad. Hotch shot Emily a strange look and she merely shrugged. Emily smiled inwardly, and decided that she'd leave what happened between her and Riley, between them. After all, she wasn't just some woman that Riley's father screwed. Riley really did like her.

**A/N That's all for now folks :D Please, please, please review!!**


	27. Beside You

**Disclaimer: I wish!**

**This chapter is dedicated to: ****CrimStudent47, Rolfy, McNinja, nataliebianca, and Megz-and-Tori.**

"Good work everyone." Hotch said as they left the Miami police station. They had just finished a difficult case, and as per Riley's suggestion, he's started praising his team much more often.

"Hey," JJ said. "We don't have to leave until tomorrow. We should go out for a drink."

"Well, I'll pass on the drinking." Emily laughed as she rubbed her growing stomach. "But I'd sure like to go out."

"I'd kill for a few drinks. Thank god Hotch didn't knock me up." Morgan laughed.

"That would be quite the trick!" Garcia exclaimed. It didn't take much to convince the team to go out for a few drinks that night. They found a quiet place that was virtually empty. Rossi offered to purchase the first round, and no one declined. He returned with 6 beers and a coke.

"It was clear that he was impotent." Reid said, referring to the unsub, as the waitress brought drinks over to their table. She gave Reid a strange look, but then returned to the bar.

"Can we not talk about work for five minutes please?" JJ snapped as she nursed her drink.

"Wow, someone's PMSing." Garcia laughed.

"Whatever."

"Seriously Jayje. What's up?" Emily asked. "You've been a bit testy for a while now."

"It's nothing really. Sorry, I didn't realize that I've been snapping at you guys." She said sincerely.

"JJ, its fine. But if you need to talk, we're here." Hotch said. JJ looked at Emily and smiled.

"I like what you've done with him." She giggled.

"Meh, he's coming along." Emily laughed as she lightly punched Hotch's arm.

"All joking aside." Garcia said, interrupting the laughter from the team. "Is something bugging you?"

"Oh, it's just Will. We've been having issues for a while. Before we left, he brought up the "D" word." She sighed.

"The "D" word?" Reid asked.

"Divorce." Rossi cleared up.

"Oh god Jayje. I'm so sorry." Emily gasped.

"I can't believe it! Oh, poor JJ." Garcia said sadly. Morgan took her hand and squeezed it while Reid put his hand on her back protectively. Rossi instinctively offered her another drink.

"Look, I don't really know how serious he was about it." She said. JJ was obviously uncomfortable with the attention.

"Do you need to take some time?" Hotch asked.

"Nah, I can't deal with that. If he's going to divorce me, he's going to do it whether I work the next case or not," she shrugged.

"Do you need anything?" Emily asked.

"Yes. I need to drink. I just need drinks tonight, and I need one of you to promise to drive me home the moment I start making a fool of myself." JJ said loudly.

"I think I can do that for you Jayje." Emily laughed as she sipped her coke.

"Oh yeah! Good plan!" JJ said.

"How far are you again?" Garcia asked.

"Eight weeks now." Emily said with a smile.

"Wow, you're starting to get fat now." Morgan said, and then he instantly regretted his choice of words. "I mean, you're not fat. You're bigger than before. Obviously, because you're-" But Emily stopped him.

"I know what you mean Morgan. I'm starting to show some now." She laughed.

"That's what I intended to say." He said quietly.

"I figured."

"Alrightie." JJ said as she downed her second beer. "I've got this round."

* * *

True to her word, JJ was drinking like there was no tomorrow. They had arrived at the bar at just after 8, and when JJ asked Rossi if he wanted to make out at 12, Emily decided it was time to take her home. She and Garcia lead her to the car that they had rented for their night of drinking. Garcia was slightly tipsy, but she was still in total control.

"Why'd you make me leave so soon?" JJ whined.

"You said to take you home when you made a fool of yourself." Emily pointed out.

"Yeah? So?" Her speech was so slurred; it was difficult to understand her.

"When you ask David Rossi to make out, while you're still married might I add, I think that you've made a fool of yourself." Garcia laughed.

"I agree." Emily said.

"I won't be married for long." JJ said, before hiccupping. "I lied in the bar."

"Lied about what?" Emily asked as she drove.

"Will bring up divorce." She giggled in her drunken state. "He brought home divorce papers the other day."

"Oh my god!" Penelope squeaked. "Why?"

"He's been screwing some other girl!" JJ laughed. "He's silly like that."

"I'm so sorry JJ." Emily said quietly, making a mental note to kill Will. And to not tell JJ about this conversation. It would just embarrass her.

"That's why you're luck you have Hotch. He would never screw anyone except you." Emily blushed, but laughed along with Garcia and JJ.

"I am lucky to have him."

"I bet he's awesome in bed." JJ said casually.

"Uhm..." Garcia said before she started laughing hysterically.

"Don't get me wrong, I don't want to sleep with him or anything. He just seems like he'd be great." JJ said.

"Oh sweetie, I hope you don't remember this conversation." Emily said.

"Whatever. So I said Hotch might be good at sex. At least I didn't tell you about the ring." Garcia's eyes widened as she shot JJ a dangerous look.

"Ring?" Emily asked.

"Don't listen to her. She's drank enough to sustain an army of people." Garcia said hastily trying to cover up JJ's slip.

"Oh, that's right. It's a secret. Shhhh." JJ laughed. Emily was confused, but didn't ask JJ to elaborate. After all, she was drunker than drunk.

* * *

"Hey." Hotch said when he walked into the hotel room he was sharing with Emily.

"Hey."

"How's JJ doing?"

"I got her all set up in PG's room. She'll be okay for the night, but I don't know about tomorrow." Emily laughed.

"Okay, as long as she's fine," he nodded.

"I feel so bad for her though." Emily sighed.

"Why is that?"

"Will cheated on her. He didn't just bring up divorce; he got the papers for her to sign and everything."

"Wow." Hotch said. "Remind me to send her flowers."

"Why?"

"I won't say it's because of her divorce. Just to say that we appreciate her." Hotch shrugged. "I think I need to praise my team more often."

"Is that why you got Reid that limited edition book thing and Garcia that chocolate the other day?" Emily laughed. "I thought you had an aneurysm."

"Haha. You guys are great, and you should all be told it more often. So anyways, I assume that's why she drank herself under the table?" He asked.

"You are correct." Emily nodded. "But she is a funny drunk."

"Oh?"

"She believes that you'd be good in bed." Emily laughed and Hotch blushed.

"What, uhm. What did you tell her?" He wondered.

"That for her sake, I hope she didn't remember out conversation."

"Oh. Okay."

"Yeah, I was pretty sure you would be uncomfortable with me filling our collogues in on our sex life." Emily giggled.

"A bit."

"And then she starts talking about some secret ring that neither Garcia or I knew about." Emily said, and Hotch stopped dead.

"What did she say about this ring?" He asked.

"Nothing really. She just mentioned it when she was talking about you. Do you know what she was talking about?" Emily asked. Hotch didn't really know what to do. Ever since they found out about the ring, they'd been trying to convince him to propose to her. Garcia called him every day and threatened him in various different ways each day that he held on to the ring. It wasn't the threats he was scared of, hell, it was just Garcia. He was scared that someone would spill to Emily that he had the ring.

Even on this case, he brought the ring. He brought the ring with him every day, everywhere he went. Hotch didn't know exactly why he did that, but he did. Maybe he thought that something would randomly inspire him to get down on one knee. So far, Hotch was still unsure about how he wanted to propose. Suddenly, Garcia's words went through his mind. In one of their phone calls, she said "having that ring is doing you literally no good. Beyonce said it best boss man. You like it. Put a ring on it." He thought it was funny at the time, but now he was thinking differently. It was true. Holding on to the ring was doing nothing for him.

"Just like a Band-Aid." He said quietly to himself.

"Hum?"

"Emily Prentiss, I love you with every fiber of my being." He began.

"Well, thank you!" She beamed. "I love you too."

"Can I just talk for a minute?" He laughed.

"Oh, sorry!"

"It's fine." Hotch laughed. "That's one of the things I love about you. I love that you always are so expressive of your love. I love how good you are to my kids, and how good you'll be to our kids. I love how you talk, smile, think; everything about you is amazing. Emily, there is no one in the world who is better for me. You've completed me. I thank God that you love me. Let's face it. I could do a million times worse, and you could do three million times better. But I didn't. I ended up with the closest to perfection there is."

Emily's eyes were full of tears when he ran over to his bag and pulled out his little red box.

"Emily Prentiss, will you marry me?"

**A/N: That's it for now! Please tell me what you thought! Review!! :D**


	28. I Can Hear The Bells

**Disclaimer: I'm sure you're all weeping for me because I don't own Criminal Minds. Thank you for doing so :) **

**This chapter is dedicated to: ****hxchick, NCIS-fan-cecy, CrimStudent47, Rolfy, McNinja, Megz-and-Tori, nataliebianca, SherlockHolmesqueen4ever, and SussiRay.**

Emily looked at the ring and tears were flowing heavily from her eyes. She couldn't focus on the moment or the gesture though. Her mind was elsewhere.

"I hate when you say things like that." Emily sighed through her tears.

"Oh?" He said, literally feeling his heart break.

"Aaron, you don't really feel like that, do you?" She said.

"I love you with all my heart Emily." He said quietly.

"But that has nothing to do with it Aaron."

"It has everything to do with it. I've got to say, I actually thought you'd say yes." He sighed and he closed the box with the ring as he went to walk away to clear his head.

"Whoa! Who said no?!" Emily stood up and grabbed his arm.

"You hate when I say things like that. I didn't know you felt so strongly against marrying me." He pulled out of her grip and she grabbed him again.

"Aaron, you don't understand. I hate when you say that I could do better and you could do worse."

"What are you talking about?" Hotch said.

"In your little speech there, you said 'I could do worse and you could do better.' I hate when you say that." Emily said, drying her tears on her shirt.

"You hate that? Why?"

"Because Aaron," Emily said, as a small smile formed on her face. "I can't do better. How can I do better than the best?" A smile took over his face.

"Really?"

"If anyone could do better, it would be you." Emily said.

"Emily, there really isn't a way I could do any better." He said honestly stating his feelings.

"Come on. You're smart, kind, a great father, polite, sexy. I'm so out of your league."

"If anyone is all of those things, it's you." Hotch argued.

"You think I'm a great father?" She said with a small smirk. He rolled his eyes and gestured back to the ring.

"So, is that a yes?"

"No." She said. His smile fell.

"Oh."

"It's a HELL YES!" She said as she jumped into his arms and kissed him repetitively.

"Oh my god Emily. You have no idea how happy you've made me. These last few months have been some of the best of my life! We're having babies, getting married; we're becoming a family." He said happily. Emily felt her eyes well up again.

"Damn you and your speeches." She laughed as she cried happily.

"I think it's the hormones." He laughed as he pulled her into a huge hug.

"Damn the hormones then."

"Oh Emily. I'm so glad."

"Aaron, you don't understand how amazing this is! I never had a really great family growing up, and now I have one! You've brought me my family. Riley, Jack, our babies and you. That's my real family."

"You make a pretty nice speech yourself there Prentiss." Hotch smiled as he planted a kiss on her head.

"Thank you. Now, why don't you join me in bed so I can show my fiancé a good time?"

* * *

Hotch and Emily got up late, and ended up meeting in the hotel lobby late.

"Well well well." Morgan said. "Look who decided to show up."

"Was it the radical sex that made you late?" Garcia joked.

"No, that was last night." Emily corrected.

"Prentiss!" Hotch snapped.

"You can call me Emily now; we're not on a case."

"I think he's uncomfortable." Rossi said. "I am to for that matter."

"So if you weren't doing it, why are you so late?" JJ asked. She looked hung over, and a wave of sadness washed over Emily when she looked at JJ. She knew that talking about Will would be a bad idea, but eventually they needed to go there. For now though, Emily decided she'd let he good mood stay.

"Actually, I slept in. I'm just so tired from lugging around this giant engagement ring." She said and she flashed her hand to the team. Once it registered, the room was full of excited gasps and congratulations.

"How did he do it?" Garcia asked excitedly. "I told him he should have done it at the bar where you guys decided to go out."

"That's romantic." Morgan said.

"Yes, I am." She nodded.

"No, we were in our hotel." Emily said. "We were talking about-" She paused and thought about the fact that they were talking about JJ "We were talking about the case."

"How romantic." Reid said mockingly and they all laughed.

"Anyways, he gives this beautiful speech and then he asks." Emily concluded.

"Congrats guys." Rossi said as he patted Aaron on the back. "You know you're lucky, right Hotch?"

"Yes, he is." Reid agreed.

"Well, it's not like Emily got off poorly." Garcia said, raising her eyebrows at Hotch.

"Yeah, she's got one of the good ones." JJ said with a small smile.

"Are you okay Jayje?" Morgan asked.

"Never better. Two of my best friends are getting married. I'm so happy for them." This time, the smile was more genuine.

"Are you waiting until after the babies are born?" Reid asked.

"I haven't thought of that." Emily realized. "I guess after. I love it when babies are in wedding parties."

"And while we're on the subject, Penelope is a great baby name. Just saying." Garcia said.

"We'll keep that in mind." Hotch laughed.

"Have you thought of how you'll tell Riley and Jack?" Rossi asked.

"I think it'll be easier to tell them about this than the pregnancy." Emily said.

"Yeah, I'm sure at least Riley figured out that it would eventually happen." Hotch said.

"You know, you guys are such a good couple." JJ said honestly.

"Thanks Jayje." Emily said, giving her a hug. Garcia joined in the hug. Emily figured out in that moment that JJ remembered what she told them.

"What? I don't get any love?" Rossi joked, speaking to Hotch.

"You're off your rocker old man." Hotch said.

"Oh, you can have some love from me." Emily laughed, and she gave Rossi a hug too.

"Shit!" Morgan said. "We're supposed to be leaving in 20 minutes!"

"We'd better run. We can chat more on the plane." Reid said.

* * *

"How'd you find out?" Emily asked JJ when they and Penelope were sitting together on the jet.

"It's a big day for you Em. I don't want to take away from it." JJ said.

"I don't care. I need to know." Emily asked.

"Come on precious." Garcia cooed as she rubbed JJ's hair.

"Okay. Well, we were coming back from a case. I walked in to our house and went into Henry's room. He was sleeping, but then I heard something. I knew exactly what I heard, but I didn't want to believe it. So, I walked into our room and I found him having sex with one of his subordinates." JJ sighed.

"Oh Jayje." Emily said, as she watched her friend's face contort in sadness.

"I really loved him."

"I know pumpkin." Garcia said soothingly, but then JJ wiped the tear that fell down and breathed in.

"But, to hell with him!" JJ said.

"Yeah. He's giving up one of the sexiest, funniest, best women I've ever met for some skank." Garcia laughed.

"Yeah, fuck him!" Emily said. "He was a loser."

"He was, wasn't he?" JJ agreed.

"Indeed." Emily assured her.

"You are so damn lucky that you've got Aaron." JJ said. "And I'm sorry that my ass of an ex husband ruined your announcement."

"I'm pretty sure you didn't plan it like this." Emily said, patting her hand.

"Seriously though, can we not talk about Will?" JJ asked.

"Nope. But you will have to talk about his death after Prentiss and I get through with him." Penelope laughed and Emily whole heartedly agreed.

"Thanks guys, but back to Emily's wedding."

"You should get married on an island!" Garcia squealed.

"What?"

"It would be so romantic." JJ agreed. "A vacation and wedding all in one."

"I think we might just do a tiny one." Emily protested.

"Oh no." Garcia said.

"No," JJ agreed. "Not going to happen."

"Why?" Emily begged.

"Because we love you, that's why. We're planning a fantastic wedding for you!" Garcia exclaimed.

"You guys really don't have to do this."

"Nonsense. I need something to get my mind of my horrible marriage." JJ said, flashing her puppy dog eyes.

"Are you really playing that card already?" Emily asked.

"Depends. Is it working?" JJ asked with a smile.

"Yes." Emily said after a small pause. Garcia and JJ exchanged a high five and began talking about colour schemes.

* * *

Once they landed, Hotch and Emily drove home. Emily decided to run over to tell her mother about the news, while Hotch waited for Haley to drop off the kids. The kids were supposed to be there around 8 that Friday night, but Hotch heard a knock on the door an hour early, and Riley and Jack were on the other side.

"Daddy!" Jack said as he jumped into his father's arms.

"Hey dad." Riley said, allowing him to give her a small hug.

"Alright guys, I've got some big news." Hotch said with a small smile.

* * *

At that exact same moment, Emily was walking into her mother's office.

"Well, hello there Emily. It's nice to see you." Her mother said politely.

"How are you mother?" Emily asked.

"Busy, can we make this quick?" Elizabeth asked.

"Alright, I've got some big news." Emily took a deep breath and gained her composure.

* * *

**A/N: Alrightie, that's all folks! Sorry for taking so damn long! Stupid school. Anyways, obviously the next chapter is the kids and her mother's reactions. I hope to have it up sooner. Maybe some reviews would hurry me up? ;) Haha, just kidding. I won't hold the chapter hostage, but still, you should review. It would please Abigail. Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it! :D**


	29. Sorry

**Disclaimer: I still don't own anything, but I'll keep you posted!**

**This chapter is dedicated to: CrimStudent47, SherlockHolmesqueen4ever, NCIS-fan-cecy, Megz-and-Tori, Rolfy, nataliebianca, and McNinja.**

"Wow," Riley laughed. "You tend to have some sort of big news concerning you and Emily every time we see you."

"Maybe we have been moving a bit quickly." Hotch agreed.

"Dad, _seconds _have gone by slower than your relationship." She giggled. "Just saying."

"Thanks for being supportive."

"Hey, don't mention it pal."

"Alright!" Jack interrupted. "Your big news?"

"He's building up suspense Jack. Be patient." Riley said and Hotch rolled his eyes.

"I'm not patient! I want to know!" Jack squealed.

"Okay." Riley said.

"Emily and I are engaged." Aaron said quickly. Riley's eyes widened in their usual way, and she gave her dad a hug.

"Congrats dad!"

"You're not mad?" He asked, thoroughly stunned at her reaction.

"Oh dad. You underestimate me. I actually like Emily. If I didn't, I'd be mad."

"You actually like her?" He asked.

"You couldn't tell?" She returned.

"Well...not really."

"Alright, so I'm not the most affectionate person. But I do like her."

"Daddy?" Jack finally interjected.

"Yeah buddy?"

"What's engaged mean?" The small boy wondered. Hotch smiled at his son.

"It means that me and Emmy are getting married." Hotch explained.

"Oh. I thought you were married?"

"Why did you think that?" Aaron asked.

"You're having a baby. Mom says you're supposed to be married when you have a baby." Jack said.

"What a hypocrite." Riley laughed.

"Riley." Hotch warned.

"What? It's true." She said defensively.

"Jack," Hotch continued, ignoring Riley's comments. "You don't have to be married, but it's a good idea to be if you're having a baby and you're in love."

"I'm going to marry Angelina when I'm 7." Jack announced in a matter-of-facty voice.

"Are you?" Hotch laughed.

"Yes, and we're having 9 kids."

"Sounds like a plan." Riley giggled.

"Are you ever going to get married Ri? You're already 15. Almost 16 and you don't have a husband." Jack shook his head sadly.

"Jackie, you don't get married until you're a grown up." Hotch corrected.

"Ri's a grown up."

"Not yet buddy." Riley said.

"Oh. Can I be in your wedding?" Jack asked.

"Yes you can." Hotch nodded.

"Can I wear a cape?"

"You'll have to ask Emily." Aaron laughed.

"If he gets a cape, I want one too. No joke." Riley said.

"You're a loser." Hotch said and Riley's jaw dropped open.

"It must be genetic, you loser." She shot back, laughing.

"But it gets worse each generation." Hotch concluded.

"I'm impressed with your wit." Riley said, laughing in appreciation.

"Dad, am I a loser?" Jack asked.

"Nope, just Riley."

"I told Riley she was a tool and mom got mad." Jack said and Hotch and Riley laughed.

"I love you guys more than anything." Hotch said randomly.

"I love you too daddy!" Jack exclaimed.

"Yeah. I...love you too." Riley said awkwardly. "It sounds dumb when I say it."

"Dumb or not," Hotch said, embracing his daughter. "I like to hear it."

* * *

"Well?" Ambassador Prentiss said, urging her daughter to talk. She didn't know why she was so nervous. Her mother had been accepting ever since she had heard about the relationship...sort of. Of course, her mother was known to change her mind about how she feels about Emily. She took a deep breath and gathered her composure. "Emily, can you hurry please?"

"I'm trying mother! Don't rush me." Emily sighed. Her mother was not in a great mood; it was easy to see. Maybe this wasn't the night to tell her. She would much rather have been talking with Jack, Riley and Aaron.

"Did you break up with Aaron?" Elizabeth asked, with what sounded like hopefulness in her voice.

"No...do you want us to?" She asked. Her mother answered after a slight pause.

"No. No I don't."

"Alright, here it is. Aaron and I are getting married." Emily said. Her mother looked at her strangely.

"You're getting married to your boss?"

"Yeah. Why does the fact that he's my boss always come up?" Emily wondered.

"Oh, it doesn't matter does it? You're getting married."

"You sound surprised."

"Frankly," the Ambassador said. "I am."

"Mother, we're having a baby together. We've been dating for months. Isn't that a natural progression?"

"Not exactly Emily. I always assumed the baby came after the wedding." Elizabeth taunted.

"You know that we didn't plan that." Emily sighed.

"Yes, that seems to happen often to you."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Emily asked. She could feel herself shaking with anger. Her mother was so hard to predict. She had been so good to Emily recently. Of course, she was waiting for the shit to hit the fan the entire time. Apparently the engagement was going to be an issue.

"Two pregnancies, two accidents. Have you no self control?" Emily's mouth fell open.

"That's not fair to say! Accident or not, I'm having these babies."

"These being the key word. What makes these babies better than the one you were pregnant with when you were 15?" Emily knew that her mother never forgave her for having an abortion, and she always brought it up at horrible times.

"Mother, I was 15. We both know that it was the best choice for me."

"Maybe not being a slut was a better choice for you." Her mother countered.

"I'm not a slut!" Emily spat.

"Honey," Her mother said condescendingly. "People have had mints that have lasted longer than your relationships. It's not bad, it's just who you are. I'd set you up with fine, upstanding men and you'd spend a night together, and then end it. You're not marriage material."

"Not marriage material?" Emily asked angrily. "Mother, you never set me up with any fine, upstanding men. You set me up with total man whores who wanted to screw me and move on! Oh sure, maybe I gave in too quickly before, but I'm not the same woman any more! I'm in love with Aaron Hotchner. He's not some scum bag that acts nice to you to get into my pants. He is a sweet, loving, smart man. I'll spend my life with him whether you like it or not." By now, tears were flowing from Emily's eyes.

"I didn't mean to offend you Emily." Her mother said without any concern in her voice.

"You did." She said quietly as she left her mother's office.

* * *

"Hey!" Riley said when Emily walked in. "What's wrong?"

"Are you okay Emmy?" Jack asked. Both of Aaron's kids were sitting in the living room eating pizza and watching a movie. They both quickly noticed the pained look and the tear streaks on her face.

"Nothing, is your dad here?" She asked.

"In the kitchen." Riley said, not making Emily elaborate. She wandered into the kitchen and looked at Hotch. He turned to face her with a smile on his face, but it fell when he saw her. Emily began to sob as she rested her head on Aaron's shoulder. He led her out to the living room, not really wanting to have the conversation in front of his kids, but wanting to sit down with her.

"What happened?" He asked.

"She...she- what she always does." Emily cried.

"What's wrong?" Riley asked again.

"Emily went to tell her mother about the engagement." Hotch said.

"She said I wasn't marriage material. She said I was a slut, and that's all I'd ever be." She said softly.

"That bitch!" Riley said without thinking.

"Riley!" Hotch snapped.

"Tell me I'm wrong!" Riley dared.

"I don't want you calling people bitches." Hotch said.

"Emily isn't a slut!" Riley said.

"No, my mother was right. I am." Emily cried. "You're way too good for me."

"Don't let her make you feel bad." Aaron said, holding Emily in his arms tightly. He had no idea what to say to her. Her mother was out of line, as usual. She was accusing Emily of things that weren't true, and Hotch was willing to bet that she brought up Emily's abortion.

"I would marry you." Jack said suddenly.

"What?" Emily laughed through her tears.

"Your mommy said you weren't marriage material. I don't think she is right Emmy. You're smart like Riley, you're pretty, and you always smell nice. I think I would marry you." Jack said with a smile. Emily let got of Hotch and picked up the small boy in her arms.

"Thanks for saying that buddy." She said.

"Of course, I can't marry you. I'm marrying Angelina." Jack said.

"That's alright honey. It's just nice of you to say."

"I wouldn't marry you, because you know, I don't swing that way." Riley said. "But you are pretty cool. Don't listen to your mother Emily. She probably thinks that she had your best interest at heart. Not to defend her, but still. I'm glad you're marrying my dad." Emily smiled widely.

"I would hug you too, but I don't think you'd like that." Emily said to Riley.

"Nah, I'd probably bite your arm." Riley reasoned.

"Emily, you shouldn't listen to her." Hotch said. "You are not a slut by any stretch. I'm so lucky to have you."

"And I'm happy to have you guys." Emily exclaimed. "I left my mother's office wanting to kill myself, now I'm so happy. I love you guys."

"Come on, it's hard not to love me." Riley laughed.

"So you're okay?" Hotch asked.

"Yeah. Forget her. She was never my real family. You guys are."

"Cheesy enough?" Riley laughed.

"But it's so true." Emily said.

"I'm glad you feel that way." Aaron said as he planted a kiss on her head.

* * *

She almost didn't answer the phone when she saw her mother's name on her caller ID. Reluctantly, Emily picked up the phone.

"What?" She snapped.

"Emily, thank you for picking up the phone. I really want you to hear me out." Elizabeth said.

"Oh no, I think I heard you out already." Emily scoffed.

"Please?"

"You have ten seconds." She knew she'd give her mother more time, but she figured she might as well be nasty to her.

"Emily, I am so so sorry for what I said to you today. I was in a terrible mood and I took it out on you. I know I've been a terrible mother. Hell, I am probably the worst mother ever. But I do love you. You are not a slut. I am so happy that your life is working out so well. Please Emily. I know you can't forgive me right away, but let me try." Elizabeth begged.

"Mother...I don't know." Emily sighed.

"I'll do anything Emily. Here! I'll pay for the wedding." She suggested.

"Well, we wanted to do it on an island or something." Emily said, remembering Garcia's and JJ's words.

"It's done." She said.

"And no engagement party with any of your friends." Emily added.

"None." Her mother agreed.

"I don't forgive you right now." Emily sighed again.

"I don't expect you to. I was a royal bitch." She agreed.

"Why were you so angry?" Emily wondered. Her mother sighed but she explained.

"It's the anniversary of the day your father left me. I've always hated this day. Then you came in. You look so much like him. You are so much like him. Then you start talking about weddings. It just hit a sore spot, and...yeah." Her mother said sadly. "I really didn't mean it."

"You miss him still? After all these years?" Emily asked.

"Yes, I do."

"Wow. I didn't know."

"Please don't hate me Emily. My emotions got the better of me, and I took it out on you." Elizabeth said sadly.

"I could never hate you. You are my mother." Emily said quietly.

"I wish I could go all the way back to when you were born and not be such a fuck up as a mother." She said.

"You weren't that bad." Emily replied.

"Thank you for saying that, but I was."

"Thank you for calling and apologizing mother." Emily said.

"It was the least I could do."

"I've got to go, but I'll call you tomorrow." Emily said. "Thank you for calling."

After the conversation, Emily hung up the phone. Her mother and she had never really gotten along, but it didn't take a profiler to know that her mother meant every word she said. Elizabeth really felt bad, and didn't mean what she said. Emily could tell that from that point on, things between them would be really different. Her family life was finally at peace.

**A/N That is all for now! Please tell me what you thought! Hope you liked it, and please review!**


	30. Hello, I Love You

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or its characters. I'm just borrowing them :)**

**This chapter is dedicated to:** **CrimStudent47, SussiRay, nataliebianca, NCIS-fan-cecy, Megz-and-Tori, and Rolfy.**

Both Riley and Aaron were sleeping the next morning at nine. Jack was awake watching some superhero show. Emily saw him and offered to make him breakfast.

"No thank you Emmy." He said sweetly.

"Not hungry?" She asked.

"No, I'm hungry," Jack began. "You just can't cook." Emily laughed and ruffled the young Hotchner's hair. She adored how honest young children were. Sure, it could have been taken as insulting, but Emily didn't care.

"Alright, how about we go out for breakfast?" Emily asked.

"Really?" He asked happily.

"Mhm." Emily nodded.

"Can I get pancakes?" He wondered.

"Of course. Do you think that we should wake up Riley and your dad?" Emily asked the young boy.

"I don't know. Riley's a grump when she gets waked up." Emily laughed again and agreed that they would go alone. She helped him get ready quietly, and he watched cartoons as Emily got herself ready. She scribbled a quick note for Aaron and the two left the house.

* * *

Hotch woke up to find that Emily was not in bed beside him. He panicked for a moment before he jumped out of bed and ran down the stairs. He saw Riley on the couch reading a book, but still no sign of Emily.

"Breakfast." Riley said.

"What?" Hotch asked.

"Emily and Jack. They've gone out for breakfast." Riley clarified.

"Oh. Why didn't they wake us?" Hotch asked.

"There's a note on the table. It'll answer all of your questions." Riley said, pointing to the note. He walked over and picked up the note.

_Hotch one and Hotch two,_

_Hotch three, four, five and I are out for breaky. Would have woken you two up, but Aaron looked tired and Jack said Riley would be moody. Hehe, if you're the one reading this Riley, I don't believe him. _

_Anyhoo, we'll be back soon. _

_Your Heroes,_

_Emily, Jack and the twins._

"She's a mental case." Hotch laughed.

"No kidding." Riley agreed.

"Well, why don't you and I go out and get some breakfast while they're out?" Hotch asked.

"Nah, you can just make me something." Riley suggested.

"Oh, can I now?" He asked.

"Yes." She said and he laughed.

* * *

"I'll have the chocolate chip pancakes please." Jack said in his most grown up voice. It was vaguely similar to that of his father's, when he was in Unit Chief Mode.

"Alright sir." The waitress was playing along with his little game. "What would you like to drink?"

"Scotch." He answered.

"Jack!" Emily laughed. "You can't have Scotch!"

"Why not?" He questioned, but then he paused. "Emmy, what's Scotch?" Both the waitress and Emily burst out laughing.

"How about apple juice?" Emily suggested.

"Coffee?" Jack countered.

"Chocolate milk?" Emily offered.

"Done." Jack agreed. "I'd like a chocolate milk ma'am."

"Sounds good sir. How about you?" She asked Emily.

"That sounds good actually." She'd been intensely craving chocolate recently. She suspected that the hormones were making her crazy for chocolate, that is, crazier for chocolate than usual. "I'll have the same, only, in an adult portion please."

"Okay." The waitress said, giving Emily a strange look. She walked away, and as she did, Jack began laughing.

"She called me sir Emmy! She thought I was growed up, just like you!"

"That's cool isn't it?" She agreed.

"Emmy," He said more seriously. "What kind of babies are you having?"

"What do you mean buddy?"

"Are you having girl babies or boy babies?" Jack asked.

"I don't know yet honey. The doctors can tell me soon if I want to know. Do you think I should find out?" Emily asked Jack. His eyes lit up and he nodded.

"Yes! And you should tell me."

"What kind of babies do you think I should have?"

"Maybe a boy and a girl." Jack said thoughtfully. "Then there can be one of each."

"I'd like that too." Emily agreed.

"You should name one Batman!" Jack exclaimed.

"Maybe I should." Emily said, faking thoughtfulness.

"What are the babies to me?" Jack asked.

"They'll be your little siblings." Emily explained, but she noticed the confused look on Jack's face, so she elaborated further. "Your brother or sister."

"Oh. Are they my daddy's kids too? Like me and Riley?" Jack asked.

"Yep." Emily nodded.

"Can he still be my daddy?" Jack asked sadly. He honestly seemed worried that Hotch would no longer be his father once the babies were born. Emily reached across the table and promised that Aaron would remain his dad no matter how many kids were born. Jack seemed to not really believe her at first but after some convincing, he got the point.

"What about you?" Jack asked.

"What about me?" Emily wondered.

"The babies will call my daddy, daddy. What will they call you?"

"They'll call me mom silly." Emily laughed. "Just like what you call your mom."

"But what am I supposed to call you?" Jack asked. "The babies get to call you a special name. I don't want to call you mommy because I already have one, but I need a special name to give you."

"Well," Emily pondered. "You're the only person who calls me Emmy."

"Am I?" Jack asked.

"Yeah. No one else in the whole wide world calls me that." She said.

"That's special!" Jack squeaked.

"I think it is." Emily agreed.

"So, I can call you Emmy?" Jack asked.

"You can call me whatever you want Jack." She smiled.

"Even stinky feet?" Jack asked, laughing at his own joke.

"Well, maybe not that." Emily laughed too.

* * *

"So," Hotch said. "I want to know more about your school life." The two Hotchners were sitting down; about to eat the bacon and eggs Aaron had made for them.

"What is there to know? I get good grades and I have almost perfect attendance." Riley shrugged.

"How many times have you gotten detention in high school?" He asked.

"Five." She answered quickly. "All from my music teacher for being late for class. Unless we're counting what happened in Catholic school. Then it would be a million."

"Less than me." He laughed.

"No way!"

"Yeah, I had detention all the time in high school." Hotch said.

"For what?" Riley wondered.

"Making too many jokes." He explained.

"You?" She questioned.

"I was voted class clown when I graduated." He admitted.

"I can't believe it. What happened?" Riley thought about her words regretted them. "No offence."

"None taken." He laughed.

"It's just so hard to believe. You never joke."

"Maybe I should." He nodded. "Next question, how may times have you been suspended."

"Twice and never again." She said.

"Twice? Your mother said it only happened once!" He snapped.

"It was in grade nine. She never counts what happened in the Catholic school."

"What did you do?" He asked.

"I fooled around a bit in sex ed." She said. Aaron blushed. He was overly uncomfortable talking to his daughter about anything to do with sex.

"What did you do?" He asked awkwardly.

"I couldn't stop laughing! Then they heard me make a joke that abstinence is only 99.9% effective, since it was the Virgin Mary. They didn't like that one."

"Only you." Hotch laughed and rolled his eyes at his daughter's remarks.

"What can I say? I guess it runs in the family." She laughed.

"So, what did they teach in sex ed? What's the curriculum?" Hotch wondered. He wanted to know exactly what Riley knew. He was sure that was a bit overprotective, but he didn't really care.

"Uhm," She thought. "Nothing out of the ordinary. STDs, pregnancy, the mechanics. Things like that."

"They teach you the mechanics?" Aaron was stunned that they were teaching hormonal teens about how to perform sexual acts.

"Relax dad, it's not like they gave it to us in extreme detail." Riley laughed, guessing what he was thinking.

"You're right." He nodded. "That was kind of stupid."

"I almost failed my health mid-term because of sex ed." Riley laughed.

"How?"

"We had to put condoms on fake...thingies." Riley began and Hotch laughed at her embarrassment. "And I broke it as I put it on."

"Oh god, you would." Hotch laughed.

"It wasn't funny." She laughed. "But it is now."

"How did you try to put...never mind. I don't even want to know how you did it."

"No, you don't." She agreed. "Apparently you have a hard time with them too."

"What?" He asked.

"You have like, twelve accident children." She laughed.

"Oh haha." He rolled his eyes. "That's cute."

"Come on, that was funny!"

"Yeah, sure." He sighed. "Are you mad at me for that?"

"For what?"

"For everything that has happened with Emily."

"Why would I be mad about that?" She asked.

"Because it's all happening so quickly and sometimes it feels like I don't see you and Jack enough."

"That's because you didn't see Jack and I enough." Riley said bluntly.

"I know."

"You know more now." She agreed. "But you're right; I was a little upset when you told me. I just thought we never saw you as it was, and babies would add to that."

"That's not true." He said quietly.

"It's better now." Riley agreed. "Much better. Since you've started seeing Emily, we're seeing you all the time and you call almost every night."

"I'm just sorry it took so long." Hotch said sadly.

"Well," Riley started. "You could spend all your time saying sorry, or we can move on. It's better now, and neither Jack nor I hold a grudge. Your job is the reason you didn't see us as often as we would have liked. You never pushed us to the side because you didn't like us."

"Sometimes I think you're too mature for your age." He said as he got up from his chair and collected the dishes.

"It's true." Riley agreed. "But someone's got to set an example for Thing One and Thing Two."

"Thing One and Thing Two?" Hotch asked.

"The twins." Riley shrugged.

"That's horrible!" He laughed.

"What? You haven't given them names yet? I thought I should." Riley said.

"Emily wants to know the sex before picking names. We have an appointment tomorrow to find out." Hotch said.

"She's that far along?" Riley asked.

"I know. Time flies." Hotch said.

"I sure wish I could come to see the ultrasound tomorrow." Riley sighed. It was clear that she was hinting that she wanted to stay another night so she could accompany Aaron and Emily to their appointment.

"Do you want to stay here tonight, and come to the appointment tomorrow?" He asked.

"You can take a hint!" She exclaimed and clapped her hands.

* * *

"That was great." Jack said as they pulled out of the restaurant's parking lot. "Thanks for taking me Emmy."

"Anytime Jack." They drove for a few minutes until Jack let out a loud holler.

"What?" Emily asked, panic stricken.

"A FAIR!" The young boy yelled. It was true. There was a giant fair up the street from the restaurant.

"I haven't been to one of those in years." Emily though out loud.

"Oh Emmy! Can we go tonight?"

"I don't know. I think you're going back to your mother's tonight."

"If daddy says we can stay, can we go?" Jack asked. Emily thought it over. She always loved fairs, and Jack seemed to as well.

"Why not?" She said happily and Jack cheered as they drove home.

**A/N: Sorry it took so long again. Life sometimes decides it hates me ;) Anyways, that's all for now. Please click the review button! :D**


	31. You're Having My Baby

**Disclaimer: Sadly, I have not recently obtained ownership of Criminal Minds.**

**This chapter is dedicated to: ****NCIS-fan-cecy****, ****Montana****, nataliebianca, McNinja, Rolfy, Megz-and-Tori and Mrs SpencerReid92.**

* * *

It was very easy to convince Aaron and Riley to go to the fair later that night. They called Haley and she was okay with Jack and Riley staying an extra day so they could go see Emily's ultrasound. They all had a good time at the fair. They met up with Reid and Catherine and Jack couldn't stop laughing about the fact that "Mr. Spencer got beated at all the games by a girl!"

Emily's ultrasound was scheduled for eleven in the afternoon. They all arrived on time and they got called into the room.

"I want a girl and a boy." Jack said for the hundredth time.

"That would work for me." Emily agreed.

"As long as they're healthy, I don't care." Hotch said as he kissed Emily's hand.

"Liar." Riley laughed.

"What do you mean?" Hotch asked.

"You totally have a preference." Riley said.

"Okay, so I've had easier times with boys so far..." Hotch said and Riley pretended to look shocked.

"Rude! Just for that, I hope you have two girls."

"Girls are a pain in the ass." Emily laughed. "I should know, I was one."

"Are boys a pain in the ass?" Jack asked.

"Oh, honey. Ass is a bad word. Sorry I used it." Emily said. "And no, you're not a pain."

"Yes!" Jack jumped up and clapped his hands.

"I'm not even going to ask." Riley laughed.

"I wouldn't if I were you." Hotch agreed and Riley punched him gently in the arm. Dr. Gables came into the room soon after.

"Hello everybody. How are you all?" She asked cheerfully.

"We're okay." Hotch answered for all of them. "And yourself?"

"Dandy." Dr. Gables responded as she looked through the contents of Emily's file. "Alright, so last time we talked, you were having some issues with morning sickness. Am I right?"

"Morning sickness, afternoon sickness, night sickness. Whatever you want to call it." Emily said sarcastically.

"Okay, so it was bad." Dr. Gables giggled. "Are you doing any better?"

"Much. I'm still sick sometimes, but rarely."

"That's great. So today we're here for a check up?"

"Yep." Emily said.

"And do you want to know the sexes of the babies?" She asked.

"For sure." Riley answered.

"Hey, peanut gallery. Zip it." Aaron said to Riley.

"Ignore them." Emily suggested. "But yes please. I want to know the sexes."

"Lift up your shirt." Dr. Gables commanded and Emily did what she said.

"Shesh, she didn't even buy her dinner yet." Riley joked.

"You'll have to excuse my daughter. She has a dirty teenage mind." Aaron said as he elbowed his daughter.

"It's fine. It was funny."

"Don't encourage her." Hotch advised. "She gets worse when she thinks she's funny."

"Hey!" Riley said, sounding offended.

"You guys are funny." Dr. Gables said. "A really cute family."

"Thanks." Jack said, speaking out finally. He was presently immersed in the DS game he brought.

"Here we go." Dr. Gables said as she put the gel onto Emily's stomach. She flinched when it touched her because it was cold. "This is baby A."

"Daddy, is Emmy having an ALIEN?" Jack exclaimed. Everybody laughed.

"No buddy. That's what babies look like when they're in their mommy's tummies." Hotch explained.

"Oh."

"Baby A is a boy." Dr. Gables said.

"A boy?" Emily exclaimed happily. "I'm having a boy?"

"Our son!" Hotch said happily.

"Yeah, and this is baby B."

"I can't believe I'm having a son!" Emily said, through the tears that fell down her face. Hotch's eyes were full of tears as well, but he was attempting to not cry in front of everyone.

"And a daughter."

"What?" Emily exclaimed.

"Baby B is a girl." Dr. Gables said.

"A daughter and a son?" Emily exclaimed before bursting into full sobs.

"Wow." Hotch breathed.

"Congrats!" Riley said happily as she hugged her father.

"Yay! I knew it! One of each!" Jack said, jumping out of his seat. Hotch kissed both of his children on the head, and he turned to kiss Emily. She attempted to speak to him but she was crying so hard, her words became inaudible.

"I don't know what you said." Hotch laughed as he finally let a tear fall.

"I said," Emily took a deep breath and tried to talk again. "Holey shit, I'm having a boy and a girl."

"An appropriate reaction." Riley laughed.

"Our very own babies!" Emily said.

* * *

"We've got to start thinking of names." Riley said when they returned home. They were sitting in the living room, looking at the pictures they got of the two babies. Hotch and Emily almost couldn't wait to go to work on Monday. They were super excited to tell the team about the sexes. Especially Emily. After her abortion, she felt like she didn't deserve children. Some days she felt so down about it, she felt like she didn't deserve a family at all. Yet, there she was. With her very own family. Her very own happy family. She had her fiancé who she loved more than anything. She had her soon to be step children who she loved as if they were her own, and she was going to have her twins soon. Her life had turned out so well and she couldn't believe it.

"Already?" Jack asked. "Doesn't it take a long time for babies to get born?"

"Yep." Emily said as she played with Jack's DS. "But the time goes by quickly."

"Are you seriously playing Jack's DS?" Hotch asked while laughing.

"He has Super Mario." Emily shrugged.

"Names!" Riley said.

"Jeez, one track mind much?" Emily said.

"I'm just excited." Riley said. "I want more siblings."

"I know you're excited." Hotch laughed. "What about you Jack? Are you excited?"

"I guess." Jack sighed.

"You guess?" Hotch asked.

"I guess." Jack repeated.

"What's wrong buddy?" Hotch asked.

"Nothing. I just don't want you to love the babies more than me."

"Why would you think that?" Hotch asked.

"They're new. You don't know them. You already know me." Jack sighed.

"Jack, I do know you. That means I've had you for six years. Jack, I love you so much bud. You're my Jack. I will love the babies very much, but I won't love them like I love you. Just like I love Riley different than I love you." Hotch said.

"I don't understand." Jack said.

"Well, I can't love you the same way as Riley. You guys are different people so I have to love you different. Do you get it now?"

"Since the babies aren't Jack, you can't love them like you love me?" Jack asked sounding shocked.

"Exactly. You're so smart." Hotch said.

"Wow!" Jack said. "I didn't know you could love everyone differently!"

"Pretty cool, isn't it?" Hotch laughed.

"Super cool! Can we name the baby Iron Man?" Jack asked suddenly.

"I thought you wanted Batman?" Emily asked.

"Iron Man is cooler now Emmy." Jack said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Right." Emily laughed.

"Well, I don't know yet buddy." Hotch said. "The babies won't be super heroes, so maybe we shouldn't give them those names?"

"Oh. You're right daddy." Jack said. "How about Ben?"

"Hum. I like Ben." Emily said.

"Where did you get that name?" Hotch asked. He assumed it must be some hero. Jack was on a hero kick at the moment.

"Ben 10! The alien hunter!" Jack said as he jumped up and performed a few karate moves that he made up.

"What about the girl baby?" Riley asked Jack.

"Cootie-Face." He said.

"That's not nice!" Riley laughed. "I'm a girl."

"No, you're my sister. You're not a real girl." Jack explained. They all laughed.

"I honestly don't know about names." Hotch said. "We might have to wait."

"I guess." Riley said.

"RUN YOU ITALIAN BASTARD!" Emily yelled suddenly.

"What?" Riley asked and Emily blushed.

"I'm playing Super Mario and I died." She said quietly.

"You can't say that! The babies will hear you!" Jack exclaimed.

"You're right." Emily laughed. "Sorry."

"You'll be a great big brother Jack." Hotch said.

"Yay!" He exclaimed.

"And you'll be a great big sister." He said to Riley.

"Aren't I already?" She laughed.

"Yep." Emily said. "I'm so glad you guys are the siblings. You're the best."

**A/N: Sorry it took so long! I had the worst writers block EVER! I tried writing other stories and it didn't help. I rewrote this chapter literally 5 times. Anyways, I hope you liked it. Please review!**


	32. That's Not My Name

**Disclaimer: I own nothing :(**

**This chapter is dedicated to: CrimStudent47, McNinja, hxchick, Rolfy, NCIS-fan-cecy, Megz-and-Tori, Montana, nataliebianca, penguinlover250 and the anonymous reviewer known as "me" :)**

* * *

"Cora?" Emily read out of the baby name book she was clutching. She was now officially four months pregnant, and she really wanted to pick the names for the twins. Garcia teased her about her obsession with names, but Emily didn't care. It would give her peace of mind to just have it chosen.

"No way." Riley said. She turned her head from the homework she was doing to give her opinion on the names. Jack was captivated by the movie that was on television; so captivated that he didn't bother blinking. Emily was sitting on the couch with the book and Hotch was diligently rubbing Emily's swollen feet.

"No, I don't think so either." Hotch said. "Not that Riley here gets a say."

"Rude." Riley laughed and she began writing again.

"Coral?" Emily asked.

"I'm not a fan of nature names." Hotch said.

"Coralia?" Emily read.

"Nope." He shook his head quickly.

"Coralie?" She asked.

"Are you just reading out every name in alphabetical order now?" Riley asked. Previously, Emily only suggested names that she liked.

"Yeah, I gave up on picking ones I like. Your stupid father hates everything." Emily whined dramatically.

"You like weird names!" Aaron protested quickly.

"It's called modern." Emily said, rolling her eyes.

"Modern, moron." He said quietly and she heaved a pillow at his head.

"Whatever! You like names from 1534. Old school." She said back.

"I am a fan of classics. I'm sure you figured that out already." He shot quickly.

"Okay," Riley piped in. "Why don't you both suggest names you like. You can each dismiss five names for each gender without question. I'll write down the five."

"Sounds like a plan." Emily agreed.

"Shouldn't you be doing homework?" Hotch asked skeptically.

"I am. I've been working for three hours now, and it's only Friday night." She said.

"Nerd." Emily said through a cough.

"I'm going to ignore that." Riley said as she flipped to a clean page in her notebook. "So Dad, suggest a name. Start with your daughter."

"Okay. I like Ruby." He said.

"What ever happened to the names you had for Riley and Jack?" She asked.

"Haley suggested them." Hotch shrugged. "So, Ruby?"

"Nope. Put that on the list." Emily said to Riley.

"If it helps," Riley said as she quickly scribbled the name. "I thought Ruby was fine. But, whatever. Emily?"

"I think this is the best name ever. Zeila." Emily said as she clapped her hands together.

"Zeila?" Hotch asked back. "That's ridiculous! When we talked before, you had such normal names."

"I was still in shock. Now that I've though about it, I want a unique name." Emily said.

"Now that I've thought about it, I want a classic name." Hotch said in an equally stubborn way.

"And I thought you would be one of those couples who had a hard time with names." Riley scoffed as she wrote Zeila on the list. The name battle went on and on. Riley began to think that they were vetoing each other's names out of spite. So far, Emily said no to Ruby, Cassandra, Stella, Roxanne and Harriet. She claimed that the baby needed a special name. She said she hated being called Emily because there were so many Emily's in the world. It annoyed her. As for Hotch, he'd said no to Zeila, Aleara, Elara, Jairyn and Kestyn. Aaron said he loved his name growing up because no one ever mispronounced it, which was always embarrassing for the children.

"How about boys?" Riley asked as she cringed. It was just as bad. Zachary, Kyle, Michael, Harrison and Max were all given the thumbs down by Emily. Corvan, Kenzel, Regan Zander and Braxen were all dismissed by Hotch very quickly.

"Are you being stupid?" Hotch asked Emily when she suggested Braxen.

"No! I think it's cute. Braxen Hotchner." Emily gushed.

"Not going to happen." Hotch said, shaking his head.

"So far," Riley said. "You've each suggested a total of ten names. So far, you've both hated each other's ten names. Off to a great start."

"All of his picks are so plain!" Emily whined.

"She hates our children!" Aaron countered.

"Look," Riley said. "I can see where Emily is coming from. Being an Emily is like being a Sarah. The name may be nice, but there are so many with those names."

"Aaron is a common name too." He said.

"Yes, but it affected her differently than you. I have three Emily's one of my classes." Riley said. "I get it. You want it to be special."

"See!" Emily said.

"But," Riley began again. "My father also makes a valid point. Obscure names can be just as hard to deal with as overly common names. Teachers, friends, co-workers and everyone else will always pronounce it wrong. It can be embarrassing. Raleeza Kips in my dance class had a hard time because no one knew what to call her."

"See!" Aaron said back.

"You need to start thinking about names that are unique, yet won't get the kid beat up. For example, Zachary is a bit common, yet Kenzel will get his ass kicked." Riley laughed.

"Don't say ass." Hotch scolded.

"Right." She agreed.

"She's right I guess." Emily sighed. "But for the record, Kenzel is a cool name."

"Ben!" Jack suggest suddenly.

"You're still on the Ben kick?" Riley asked.

"The Ben kick?" Emily asked.

"He tells everyone that his brother going to be named Ben." Riley said. Emily pondered for a few seconds. It was a common name, sure. But it was cute. Benjamin Hotchner. She liked it. The only issue was how boring it was. She looked over at Hotch, and it was clear that he was mulling over the name too. Emily was willing to bet that he thought it was perfect.

"I like it too." She finally said. "It's just so boring."

"True, but it's declined in popularity recently." Riley said.

"How do you know that?" Hotch asked her.

"I looked on the internet to find some names too." She shrugged.

"Benjamin Hotchner. Ben Hotchner." Emily played with the name. "It's cute."

"It is." Hotch agreed. "I think we might end up going with Ben."

"YES!" Jack yelled as he jumped up from his seat, spilling the popcorn that was resting on his lap everywhere. "I picked the name! I picked the name."

"So Riley," Emily said. "Tell me a girl's name then."

"Why?"

"Your brother likes good names. You must too."

"I have no say." She said with a smirk directed at her father.

"I was just teasing." Aaron said with a smile. "Come on, give us something."

"Well, I kind of liked Vera. It means faith." Riley said.

"Vera. Vera Hotchner." Emily said. "Not bad."

"Not bad at all." Hotch agreed.

"I think we have some names!" Emily squeaked.

"But what about middle names?" Hotch asked. Riley groaned and stormed out of the room, muttering something about family being more annoying than homework.

* * *

"Aww! Ben Hotchner!" Garcia squealed the next Monday at work.

"I love it." JJ said excitedly.

"He sounds like a player." Morgan laughed. "I like him already."

"God forbid he's anything Morgan." Rossi cringed. "But I think Ben is adorable.

"Very cute. And it's not one of those names that sounds stupid on an adult." Reid said.

"What do you mean?" Emily asked.

"Think of Spencer. It doesn't sound like a grown up man's name. It sounds like a little man's name." Morgan laughed at the way Reid phrased his statement. "That's not what I meant!"

"Whatever you say little man." Morgan laughed.

"And for a girl," Hotch said, breaking up the teasing session that was coming quickly. "We like Vera."

"That's different." Garcia said. "It's gorgeous."

"I love it too!" JJ said. "Good choices guys."

"Vera. That's adorable. Ben and Vera. It sounds like siblings." Morgan said.

"What, she doesn't sound like a player too?" Emily asked.

"I don't think calling your daughter a slut will go over well." He laughed.

"Oh, Ben's a player and he's an all-star. Vera's a player and she's a slut?" Garcia asked. "Double standards!"

"I like Vera too." Rossi said, stopping the fight before it got farther. In all honesty, he knew Garcia would kick his ass, so he was simply protecting Morgan. "Elegant."

"I agree. They're both great." Reid said.

"Thanks guys." Emily said and she put her hand on her stomach. "We're very happy you approve!"

**Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Remember to review. Abigail will appreciate it very much. **


	33. Home

**This chapter is dedicated to: ****NCIS-fan-cecy****, ****McNinja**** , ****nataliebianca**** , ****lilz54**** , ****Madison-Gibbs**** , and ESPECIALLY ****Rolfy**** who got my butt in gear!**

Emily and Aaron pulled up in front of Haley's house to pick up Jack and Riley. Hotch hadn't seen her daughter in two weeks because she was so stressed about the exams that awaited her at the end of the month, that she wasn't leaving the house unless it was time for school, dance, or she was going somewhere else to study. Jack continued to visit throughout Riley's hermit faze. Finally, Haley convinced Riley that she could also study at Hotch's house. Riley was concerned about the drive but she begrudgingly gave in. Aaron knocked on the door, and Jack opened it.

"Daddy? Mom said you were coming in a hour." Jack said.

"An hour." Emily corrected with a smile. "And we got off work early so we thought we'd pick you up."

"Oh. I guess that will work for me." He said after considering it. Haley appeared at the door soon after.

"Hello Aaron, hello Emily." Haley said. The adults exchanged greetings as Jack ran away to finish the level of Super Mario that he was playing before he went with his dad. Haley continued talking after he darted away. "Riley's at the studio still. We didn't think you'd be here for a while."

"That's alright; we'll pick her up there. Did she pack her stuff?" Hotch asked.

"Aaron, I almost haven't been able to make her leave her books for long enough to eat dinner. I'm sure she's probably not packed." Haley laughed. Emily thought this was very much like something Hotch would do.

"Why is she studying so much?" Hotch wondered. He knew Riley was a great student, and he didn't understand why she was stressing so much.

"She's convinced herself that she'll fail history, science and music. Apparently, she can't remember any dates, any elements or how to play the saxophone so she needs to study for thirty hours a day." Haley said sarcastically.

"She's not worried about dance?" Emily asked and Haley laughed.

"God no. She has a 96 in dance going into the exam. Riley knows she can do the exam in her sleep."

"Are there reasons for her to worry about her failing her other classes?" Aaron wondered. Riley was generally so rational.

"No." Haley shook her head. "Going into the exams, she has an 86 in history, a 95 in science and an 89 in music. She doesn't need to freak out but you know her. She always gets like this about exams." Hotch felt bad. He didn't know this at all, but he did now. He was getting to know his kids better, and maybe that's all he could ask for.

"Should I get some of her stuff?" Hotch asked.

"I guess so." Haley nodded. "Please, whatever you do, do NOT forget her backpack."

"Done." Hotch agreed.

"Or her birth control." She added.

"Okay."

"And she'll need her acne scrub, and her history textbook which isn't with her backpack; it's on her bedside table. She doesn't think she needs it, but bring "Intro to Dance" and "Dance Theory 3" for her to read over. Oh, and her saxophone, and two of the books beside it. The one that's called "Saxophone, Year 2" isn't necessary. I'd also grab some of her headache medicine." Haley listed.

"How the hell do you know everything she needs of the top of your head?" He asked.

"Aaron, I know that girl so well I could tell you what kind of ice cream she would buy if we went out." Haley laughed.

"Maybe I'll get her stuff. I have a better memory than this old man." Emily said, inclining her head towards Hotch. She then listed all of the things that Haley said to grab and Haley smiled.

"You'll need a memory like that soon enough." She said, gesturing to Emily's rapidly growing stomach.

"Yeah, I guess I will. Though, I'm not sure I'll know what kind of ice-cream they want whenever we go out." Emily laughed as she walked up the stairs. Emily then remembered that she'd never been in Riley's bedroom at Haley's house. She found Riley's room because the door was covered in posters and magazine clippings about all of her favourite things. Glee, Harry Potter, Lily Allen, The Beatles, and Blink 182 covered her door, especially Harry Potter. Emily made a mental note to read the books, because it would probably be a good topic of chat with Riley about.

Emily opened the door and she smiled. She couldn't tell what colour the walls were because every part of every wall was plastered with photographs. Each wall had a title that was drawn on printer paper in different styles of letters. "By Robin" was written in each corner. Emily had to admit, Robin (whoever she was) was talented. The biggest walls in her rectangular room said "Dance" and "Friends and School". The others said "Family" and "Other Photos That I Feel Belong On My Wall".

The room was a mess by anyone's standards. Papers, photos and clothes were scattered all over the room, but it had a special charm to it. Her backpack was under a sweater, her birth control was on her desk beside her new laptop and all her necessary books were either on her bed, or bedside table. Emily took another look around the room, and beside a tiny TV, there were DVDs all titled "Showcase" and there was a year written on it. She grabbed a few, knowing that they were from dance showcases from various years and put them in the bag she was packing. Emily wanted to see all of Riley's shows. And then she decided that her daughter (and maybe even son too!) would dance. Once she had everything, she decided to peek in Jack's room.

Jack's door wasn't as decorated as Riley's, but he had some hockey posters taped up. All of his favourite players were up, including a giant one of Sidney Crosby, who Jack adored. There were also a few super hero posters. Emily was not fully versed in the knowledge of superheroes but she decided to learn about Jack's favourites. Since she was learning about Harry Potter for Riley, she would learn about that to converse with Jack.

Emily opened his door and smiled again. Jack's room was dark green, and it clashed with his Spider Man comforter. He had no pictures on his walls, but on his bookshelf, there were many photo albums. Apparently the Hotchner kids liked their photography. She flipped through some of the albums and the pictures were similar to Riley's. There were school ones, friend ones, family ones and sport ones.

Jack's room was neat as a pin. He hated anything out of order, and his room reflected it. He had a small TV too, and beside it, there were many superhero movies. He had a shelf of trophies from soccer, hockey and karate. Haley said she liked keeping him active because he was so active. He didn't like to sit still. And then Emily decided that she'd have her kids in sports too. Now that she thought about it, she wanted her kids to be like Jack and Riley.

Emily, Jack and Aaron said goodbye to Haley and returned to their car.

"Aaron?" Emily began.

"Yeah?" He said.

"We're going to do the twin's rooms soon right?" She asked as she placed her hand on her stomach.

"Of course."

"Well, I was thinking. We need to do Riley's and Jack's rooms too." Hotch thought about this and wondered where she was coming from. Especially because he knew that painting annoyed Emily more than almost anything else.

"Why were you thinking that?" He asked.

"If we profiled their rooms, it would not show anything about them. Their rooms are both neutral colours, without pictures or anything. I saw their room's at Haley's. Those bedrooms show their personalities. Riley's is covered in pictures and books. Jack's is filled with sports memorabilia and superheroes. They don't even have interesting blankets at our house!" Emily ranted. "They look like hotel rooms."

"Oh." Hotch said, picturing Riley's and Jack's rooms. It was true. "Yeah. We should fix them up. Soon. I don't want it to be like somewhere they stay."

"No. It's got to be home." She nodded.

"Well, thanks to you it will be. You know, you think of everything." Hotch said. "You're going to be a wonderful mother."

**A/N I've been a bit MIA this summer and I am sorry about that! Anyhow, I don't know how I feel about this chapter. I wanted to set it up for the next chapter which is re-doing the house a bit. Anyhow, love it or hate it, please review. I hope you enjoyed it.**


	34. Fight For Your Right

**This chapter is dedicated to: hxchick, HPforever, NCIS-fan-cecy, Megz-and-Tori, McNinja, Rolfy, TheDarksideAlwaysHasCookies, nataliebianca and to DreamerChild88 times about twelve! :) **

* * *

"So," Hotch said after they got Riley from the dance studio. "Emily and I were wondering if you two wanted to fix up your rooms."

"They're broken?" Jack wondered out loud. Emily giggled and Riley didn't look up from her history textbook.

"No Jack. They're fine, but boring. We wanted to get paint and posters and things like that." Emily explained.

"Oh! You know, that makes more sense." Jack agreed.

"That sounds good, but I've got to study." Riley said in an exasperated voice. Their constant chatter was ruining her concentration.

"Riley, your mother says that you've been studying nonstop. It won't hurt to take the weekend off." Hotch said and Riley shook her head.

"Come on Riley. What would Harry Potter do?" Emily asked. She thought that she might as well bring him up, as she wanted to read the books to be able to talk to Riley about her interests. When she noticed the look on Riley's face, she realized she said something stupid. The look was somewhere between laughing and frowning.

"Harry Potter? Have you ever read any of those books?" Riley asked.

"No. I was just saying." Emily admitted.

"Well in that case, Harry Potter would not study or do any homework without being forced. He'd get the answers from Hermione Granger and get in trouble from a teacher." Riley laughed. "Sorry, my inner nerd is showing.""Inner nerd?" Hotch asked, raising one eyebrow. "Riley, you're a nerd in and out."

"Cute." She said sarcastically. "I'm in, but can we please do it after exams?"

"You know Riley, one weekend off won't hurt." Hotch reasoned.

"You don't have to be the perfect child all the time." Emily said.

"Whenever I'm not the perfect child I get in trouble!" Riley said. She was referring to when she skipped school, and Hotch and Emily both knew it.

"There's a big difference between skipping school and taking some time off from studying for exams after you've studied for days upon days." Hotch snapped.

"I'm kidding!" Riley said. "Will you all leave me alone if I take the night off?"

"YES!" Jack yelled happily. "They will, they will!"

"Alright." Riley said exasperatedly. "I'll take some time to re-do our rooms."

* * *

Their first stop was the paint store. Jack was so overcome with excitement that he began running around the store. Hotch noticed his eyes light up and was running as soon as Jack ran. The whole time they ran Hotch yelled 'JACK GET BACK HERE NOW!' Emily and Riley laughed and began wandering together.

"So," Riley said. "I noticed you grabbed some of my dance movies. They're sitting on the floor by your feet in the car."

"Yeah. I wanted to see you dance when you were younger. You father said you were always a good dancer. Maybe Vera will pick up some tips." Emily said. "Purple?"

"Nah, I'm not a purple person." Riley said as the two looked at paint samples. "You want Vera to dance?"

"Unless she doesn't want to." Emily shrugged. "Do you ever regret that your parents put you in dance?"

"Sometimes," Riley said. "It takes up a lot of time. Some nights I want to just chill at home instead of dancing, but I love it as soon as I'm back at the studio."

"It can be bittersweet." Emily nodded.

"You danced?" Riley wondered.

"Never. I always wished to." Emily admitted. "Green?"

"Me with a green room? I can't picture it." She said. "Why didn't you dance?"

"My mother thought it was foolish."

"Why do you always go back to her? She's so mean you Em."

"Yeah, we fight a lot and sometimes she says hurtful things." Emily agreed. "But she's my mother. What am I supposed to do?"

"True." Riley agreed. "Black?"

"I'm pretty sure your father won't go for that one." Emily laughed. "But my mother offered to pay for the wedding."

"Take her for all she's worth." Riley laughed. "She really thought dance was foolish?"

"Really." Emily agreed.

"Well, my dad thinks it's foolish." Riley said as she rolled her eyes.

"What do you mean? He thinks you're a fantastic dancer!" Emily said. She didn't know where Riley was coming from. She'd seen Hotch in the audience; she saw his reaction. There was no way he thought dance was foolish.

"He thinks I'm a good dancer, but he doesn't like that it's my ambition."

"You want to be a dancer?"

"I want to go to Julliard and then join the American Ballet Theatre Company in New York." Riley sighed. "But my dad says that's not a stable career."

"Oh." Emily didn't know how to respond. It was definitely not a stable career, but Hotch should be encouraging his child's big dreams. "Red?"

"Red." Riley finally agreed.

* * *

The next stop was at a store full of posters and decorations. They were still going to use the beds and furniture they already had. After they got their decorations and posters, they planned to get new bedding and return home. This time before Jack ran off, Hotch grabbed his arm and ran with him.

"Slow down buddy! There's no fire! I told you in the paint store that running off was unacceptable." Hotch snapped.

"Sorry daddy. I'm just so excited! I want to fix my room and make it look awesome with my new blue paint!" Jack said solemnly. Hotch looked at his wide-eyed son and he couldn't be annoyed with him anymore. He was just happy, that's why he was so hyper.

"It's okay sweetie. What kind of decorations do you want?"

"Super hero posters!" Jack said as he jumped and clapped his hands. The two Hotchner boys walked over to the posters and located a Spider-man poster, a Batman poster and an Iron-man poster that Jack wanted. Hotch let him get all three.

"You'll teach Ben about heroes, won't you?" Aaron asked.

"Oh yes! He can play the bad guy!" Jack laughed.

"What? He'll be a baby; he has to be a good guy."

"Who wrote these rules? Where are they? Why do the babies have to be the good guys?" Jack demanded.

"A curious child you are." Hotch laughed.

"Well?"

"Ben will be a baby. Babies are sweet." Hotch tried to explain.

"They haven't been exposed to the evil, sadness and wretchedness of society yet. Their soles are still pure." Jack recited.

"Where did you hear that?" Hotch asked.

"That's what Riley said when I asked if Ben was a villain in disguise." Jack shrugged.

"Ah. And now you want to make him a villain?"

"I don't want to be the villain when we play!"

"Why don't you guys make Riley the villain?" Hotch suggested, knowing that Riley would lose it when she realized he set her up.

"Deal!" Jack squealed. "But hey! You're saving Ben, but you let Riley treat me mean. She treated me like Wednesday Addams treated Pugsley Addams."

"Riley protected you from everything you drama queen." Hotch laughed.

"I was joking." Jack laughed. "I love you daddy."

"I love you too son."

* * *

After stopping at a store to get bedding, (Riley got white sheets and a red comforter and Jack got all blue bedding) the group all went home to start working on their rooms. Jack asked Emily to help him and Riley agreed to let Aaron help her. They moved all their furniture out and began to paint.

"Emily says you still have your heart set on Julliard." Hotch brought up casually.

"Yes." Riley said quietly. The topic was not an easy one to discuss. Neither one of them agreed on her future.

"Have you spoken to your mother about this?" He looked over and saw Riley in her jean overalls with one latch undone. Her blue t-shirt underneath clashed with the read that was covering the walls. Though she knew they were kind of silly, Hotch knew Riley adored her overalls. She had ever since she was little. They reminded Aaron of Riley when she was little. When she was little, she wasn't so stubborn and she relied on her daddy's advice. Now, she didn't care what he had to say about her future. She wanted to make up her own mind. And it scared him.

"What does she say?"

"She still says that I can do whatever I want to." Riley said. "Unlike some people."

"Hey. Just because I don't think ballerina is a suitable career doesn't mean that I don't think you're able to!" Aaron said loudly.

"Then support me!" She snapped.

"Don't use that tone with me!" He snapped back.

"I'll put the tone away when YOU believe in me." Riley cried.

"Stop being dramatic. Why does everything have to be the end of the world for you?" Hotch asked. Why couldn't she understand that he didn't doubt her abilities? He just wanted her to have a stable future; a happy life.

"You brought it up! Don't bring up the future anymore then!" Riley yelled.

"I'm sorry I wanted to speak to you about the damned future!"

"I forgive you!" She snapped sarcastically.

"Riley Anna Maria Hotchner!" Hotch yelled loudly. "You listen to me."

"No!" She yelled. "No! Why would I listen to someone who thinks I have horrible dreams? Why would I listen to someone who doubts the only talent I have? I've given up a lot to dance!"

"You think I haven't given anything for your dancing?" Hotch yelled back. "Do you think the money grows on trees?"

"Obviously not! MOM works hard for me and Jack!" She yelled. Aaron didn't know what to say. He was so mad that he thought his head would burst. Riley felt the very same way. Both knew they over reacted, but both were too proud to apologies. The rest of Riley's room was painted in silence.

* * *

"Why should I apologies to her?" Hotch said as he laid down beside Emily to go to sleep.

"Because you're the adult, and going to bed angry is not allowed in this house, now go!" Emily urged as she gently shoved him out of bed. Hotch shot her a look, but he still walked down the stairs. Riley and Jack were sleeping in the living room because their rooms smelled strongly of paint. Jack was curled up on the love seat, fast asleep while Riley laid on the couch reading one of Emily's tabloid magazines.

"Hey." Hotch said as he sat down by her feet.

"Hi." Riley said as she closed her magazine.

"Look, Ri, I'm so, so sorry." Hotch said.

"No, I'm sorry." Riley said.

"You were right. Even if I don't think it's stable, I should support all of your dreams, no matter what." Aaron said as he rubbed his daughter's cheek.

"But you were right too. Well, you were in the right I guess. You're looking out for me. You just don't want me to have a hard life."

"I just don't want you to struggle." He admitted.

"I know. I think we both over did it." She smiled.

"Yes, we did." Hotch nodded.

"I'm sorry we had to fight."

"What kind of father and daughter don't fight? We're not some family out of a Disney movie." Hotch shrugged.

"You're right." She giggled.

"I love you Riley." Aaron said.

"I love you too dad." Riley said quietly, with a smile. She reached out and gave her dad a small hug before trying to go to sleep.

**A/N That is all for now! I hope you enjoyed it! Please Review it :)**


	35. Let's Talk About Sex

**This chapter is dedicated to: ****HPforever, nataliebianca, NCIS-fan-cecy, Rolfy, DreamerChild88.**

**Disclaimer: I still own nothing :(**

**Hey readers! Just a quick note before we get going! Aaron and Riley have a bit of "the talk" in this chapter, so there is some language that everyone might not be comfortable with. If the idea bugs you, don't read it. I might rate this chapter T+ or something. I don't know, maybe I'm paranoid. Anyways, if "the talk" doesn't sound like it will be full of language you are comfortable with, skip this chapter. If not, happy reading.**

* * *

"Aaron?" Haley said into the phone.

"Hello Haley." He said politely. "I'm on the jet home from Miami. The kids are still coming this weekend, right?"

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about. Jack want's to go stay at Jessica's this weekend." Haley explained.

"Well, no problem." Hotch said. "I'll just take Riley. How did she do on her exams?"

"Perfect, how do you think? Now, for the real reason I called. A boy in Riley's dance class asked her on a date." Haley explained. Aaron's eyes nearly popped out of his head. His baby girl could not be ready to date. She just couldn't.

"What...what did you say?" He wondered.

"I said she could go, but before she does, I need a favour from you."

"A favour?"

"I want you to talk to Riley about sex." Haley said bluntly.

"Talk to her about sex? Do you hate me Haley? Why do you wish bad things to happen to me?" He yelped. Aaron's outburst got many strange looks from the rest of the team, but he ignored them.

"Please do this for me Aaron." Haley begged.

"You're a girl! You have the right...parts?" Aaron tried.

"For a girl and I'm pretty sure she's dealing with boys. You have the right parts to know what boys want. When she's a lesbian, I'll give her the talk." Haley said.

"Hasn't she learned enough in school Haley?"

"School doesn't cover the emotional implications of sex. Aaron, be her father. She needs you to talk about this with her." Haley said with a note of annoyance in her voice.

"Fine. I'll see you tomorrow." He said, just as annoyed as Haley seemed. Aaron hung up the phone and massaged his temples.

"You okay Hotch?" Morgan asked.

"Haley want's me to give Riley the sex talk tomorrow."

"Oh boy." Emily said. "This should be fun."

* * *

The next day, Riley hurried out to Hotch's car with a gigantic, bright smile on her face. Hotch felt bad because the awkward talk would either wipe the smile off her face or make her laugh to death. Emily thought it would be a hilarious situation and she even made him research topics to discuss online.

"Dad!" She said as she threw the door open. "Hi! Hi Emily."

"Hi sweetheart." Emily said.

"Riley," Hotch began. "How were your exams?"

"What? Oh, fine." Riley said hurriedly. "I have the coolest news ever!"

"Oh yeah?" Hotch said. He figured that he'd let Riley tell him about the date, since she was overly excited about it. He'd bring up the sex talk, and blame that on Haley. She was making him do it, so she deserved the blame.

"This guy in my dance class, Dominic Johns, asked me on a date!" She exclaimed.

"Aren't dancers usually gay?" Emily asked jokingly.

"Emily's inappropriate comment aside," Riley said. "Isn't that so exciting?"

"I take it that you like this Dominic?" Hotch asked.

"I really do. He's smart, funny, kind, and a fantastic dancer! Plus, he's honest! Just as honest as me! He doesn't get offended when I tell the truth." Riley exclaimed.

"He sounds lovely." Emily said with a smile.

"Oh!" Hotch said stupidly. "That's why Haley wants me to talk to her." Emily gasped, realizing that he was planning on blaming it on Haley. She couldn't say she blamed him, but she still punched him lightly in the arm.

"Mom wanted you to talk to me about what?" Riley asked.

"Riley, your mother thinks you and I need to talk about...se...se-sex." The conversation was going to be even more horrible than he imagined.

"Why?"

"I guess because you're dating this boy now." Hotch shrugged. "You'll have to ask her. But, since we have a long drive ahead of us, I think we should just get it out of the way now. Please, try to be serious."

"I'll attempt." Riley said. Everyone was silent for a few moments. No one really knew how to begin the conversation.

"I don't even know what to say." Hotch admitted.

"You've never had sex before, have you?" Emily asked bluntly.

"Didn't I already tell you I was a virgin?" Riley asked.

"Answers change." Emily said.

"Well, mine hasn't."

"You've never done anything sexual?" Hotch asked.

"No."

"Even...like...touching...counts." Hotch said slowly.

"Oh my." Riley said awkwardly.

"This is just as awkward for me as it is for you."

"I don't really think it is actually." Riley disagreed. "And I haven't even kissed a boy before."

"Good." Hotch nodded.

"You learned about the mechanics in school, right?" Emily asked. Apparently she was taking the lead while the Hotchners squirmed in their seats, both turning bright red.

"Yes."

"Good." Hotch said.

"Aaron, you're supposed to be talking to her not just saying good!"

"Right. Okay. Uhm when you do decide to...have...do...be intimate with a boy, you need to be protected."

"I know." Riley said, praying that she would be swallowed up by some random hole in the earth.

"Abstinence is more affective than um...condoms and birth control." Aaron said. He wished he had his gun at the moment. He'd rather shoot himself than have this conversation. Why did Riley have to be growing up? Talking about sharing was so much easier.

"Yes. That it is." Riley agreed.

"You know about STDs right?" Emily asked.

"Yup."

"Well, it's not just...vaginal intercourse that transfers STDs." Aaron struggled with the sentence. Riley couldn't contain it anymore. Being serious was making it awkward and weird. After holding it in the whole time, she began to laugh. Very hard." Riley! Please be serious with this conversation! It's hard enough without being long!" Riley laughed even harder. So did Emily.

"That's what she said." Emily mumbled.

"Can you be an adult please?" Aaron asked.

"Come on, that was funny. It's hard enough without being long." Emily giggled.

"Maturity please?" Aaron begged.

"Sorry."

"Now, you can still get STDs from other kinds of...intercourse." Hotch said.

"There are other kinds of intercourse?" Riley asked, trying her best to sound surprised. Being serious was stupid. If it was going to be bad for her, she decided that she needed to make it bad for her father too.

"You said you learned the mechanics in school!" Hotch exclaimed. He wanted the conversation to be over.

"Of...what did you call it again? 'Vaginal intercourse'." She said.

"Uh, there's also...oral intercourse and...anal intercourse." Aaron stumbled to put the words together. Riley completely lost her mind with laughter.

"You are a pain in the ass." He said when he caught on to what she was doing.

"She's a funny pain in the ass." Emily said.

"Thank you!"

"Now on your date," Hotch said before Riley could be any more of a nuisance. "Even if he pays for everything or gives you a ride home-"

"He doesn't have his license."

"Okay, in the future-"

"I hope we have flying cars in the future." Riley said thoughtfully.

"Oh my God Riley." Hotch snapped.

"Sorry!" Emily was laughing into her hands. Offering Hotch help wasn't nearly as funny as watching him struggle.

"If your date does anything nice for you, you still don't owe him anything." Hotch took a triumphant sip of the coffee he bought earlier for finally getting his point across. Emily also picked her coffee up to drink.

"Mom's already covered that one." Riley pointed out.

"Has she?" Hotch asked.

"Yup. She says 'just because he pays for dinner doesn't mean he gets a blow job'." Emily spit the coffee out of her mouth and burst out laughing.

"She did not say that!" Aaron exclaimed.

"Call her and ask! She said it when I asked if I could go out with Dom." Riley said.

"Dear Lord." Hotch muttered.

"This is the best thing ever. Just saying." Emily laughed.

"And we're all so glad you're enjoying yourself." Riley said sarcastically.

"Riley," Hotch said a bit forcefully. "There are 2 things I want you to take away from this, okay?"

"Okay." She nodded.

"One," He began. "Nobody, and I mean NOBODY can force you to do what you don't want to. Fight if you have to. You are in control of your body and nobody else is."

"See? You sound less awkward and it's not funny anymore." Riley said. "You say something sweet like that and I can't laugh."

"Finally!" He exclaimed.

"Har-har." Riley said. "Thing number two?"

"Choosing to...lose your virginity is a big choice. One that I'd hate for you to regret. I want you to look back on it in a good way, not in a horrible, regret filled way. Once it's gone, you can't get it back. Once someone has it, it's gone. The wrong person could betray your trust and I don't want that to happen to you. I just want you to be sure. I want you to be in love before you do this. Preferably, I want you to be married, but I'm trying to be real here." Hotch said. "You're my little girl and I want you to be happy."

"You are the sweetest man alive!" Emily sobbed.

"Are you crying?" Hotch asked.

"Is she actually crying?" Riley asked.

"His speeches are so beautiful!"

"Hormones?" Riley asked.

"Hormones." Hotch agreed.

"Shut up." Emily laughed through her tears.

"Thanks dad." Riley said.

"For what?" He asked.

"For giving me the funniest, most awkward and sweetest speech ever." Riley laughed.

"And I'm never doing it again." The three sat in silence for a few moments before a disgusted look invaded Riley's face.

"What?" Emily asked.

"Sex makes babies." Riley cringed.

"And?"

"That means my parents had...sex." Riley shuddered. "I am going to throw up all over this car." Emily laughed. The Hotchners could be so funny in awkward situations.

**That's all for now! Please, please tell me what you thought! Thanks for reading!**


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